Don't be afraid
by MelAnderson
Summary: Nick and Jeff are a couple and really enjoy their time together at Dalton. It's never boring with their friends and the Warblers. *wink* - Niff, Blaine/OC , Thadbastian
1. The beginning

**Hello there! You seem to ship NIFF, otherwise you wouldn't be here! Thank you for stopping by :)**

**I planned on writing a Niff story that is not really soooo happy, but it turned out to be sometimes funny, then serious again, then funny, and so on. I think you have to take a look at the latest chapters, because I love them! Also Sebastian is there (never would've thought he would be in one of my stories) and Blaine is not with Kurt, but he won't get Sebastian though :D He has another one, but you will see who it is when you read it ;)**

**Enjoy! :)**

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><p><span>Chapter 1: Everything begins<span>

"Come here." Nick patted on the space next to him and winked at Jeff. Jeff went over to him and layed down beside him, putting his arms around Nick. "That's what I've been always dreaming of!", he said while he put his head on Nick's shoulder.

"Of what?", Nick asked and put his arm around Jeff.

"Of exactly this." For demonstration Jeff bent overand fluttered Nick a kiss. Nick smiled at him and gave him a pinch on the cheek.

"You are so sweet, you know that?", he mumbled and could feel his heart beating.

"Not as sweet as you are", Jeff replied and smiled mischievously.

After a few minutes of silence, both of them enjoying the time together, Nick said, what both were concerned with since hours. "Should we tell them?"

Jeff's heart skipped a beat. "I don't know. I am worried. What if they don't approve and they distance themselves from us?"

"Nevertheless they are our _parents_, and I can't imagine that your mother will ever stop loving you. Every time I was at your's and I was in the same room as your mother and you weren't, she looked at me and smiled before she said: _Isn't he lovely? I am so proud of him!_ To be honest...she winked at me, every single time, maybe she knew it by then, even if we didn't. Anyways, she truly loves you, Jeff, don't worry about it."

"Yes, but my father..."

"Jeff, your father has to deal with it. I am not sure that my mom or my dad are going to accept how I really am. But we have to do it, because we can't hide our whole life long. At least I can't do that."

"But what if they don't talk to us anymore or -"

"Please, Jeff. You can see every day how Blaine is treated here, and he is being treated like everyone else. And those, who turn away from us, obviously aren't worth it to be our friends."

Still unsure Jeff clinged fast on Nick and sighed. He was happy that he was able to call Nick his best friend.

"I hope that everything stays as it is. Everything's fine as long as I'm with you."

"Trust me, nothing bad will happen."

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><p>I'm going to be updating soon, I just have to translate my german story :D<p>

Anyways, I hope you are going to like it, because I do, and I would love some reviews! :)


	2. Talk about it somewhere else

Chapter 2: They try to talk about it

"You know, Jeff, I'm really happy." Nick put his arm around Jeff, being on the point of laying his head on his shoulder. He let his glance wander over the park, where many people were enjoying the beautiful weather.

"Nick, please", Jeff mumbled and backed away, so he sat on the other side of the bench. "I...I'm not ready for this."

As if Jeff has kicked him into his stomach, Nick creased his face and looked to the ground. "Why not? Are you scared?" He noticed that Jeff flinched and looked nervously at his hands. "What are you scared of, Jeff?" Nick was anxious. There sat the boy he loved, full of fear, and he couldn't do anything to comfort him without making him feel uncomfortable.

"It's just-", Jeff sighed and took a deep breath. "I don't know myself, Nick. Actually, I should be happy, because...I have you."

Nick flushed, he couldn't avoid it. He looked away and had to suppress a smile. _I don't deserve him_, he thought as he saw again how devoted and good-hearted Jeff was, only by looking him into the eyes..

"Listen to me, Jeff." He moved closer to him, deepening his voice. "It's not bad when you're afraid. I'm afraid _too_, okay? But that simply shows that this is very important to us, doesn't it?"

Jeff turned his head slightly and interrupted him. "You and fear? Nick, please, you are the most sincere boy I know. Don't tell me anything about fear, you don't know what I'm going throu-"

"Hear me out!" Nick turned his upper body, so that he was facing Jeff. "Whether you believe me or not, but I am _absolutely_ scared, Jeff! I couldn't sleep for days, because...of these _thoughts_! They keep crossing my mind and don't leave me alone!" His gaze rested on Jeff's face. He could see how his lips moved, as if he was about to say something. A strand of hair fell on his face and Nick had to fight the urge to brush it away.

"Thoughts...of YOU, Jeff." It was the first time Jeff turned around to look him into the eyes. And Nick took the chance to grab his hands. "I think _only_ of you, Jeff. Day and night, during school, while dinner, when I'm brushing my teeth..."

"But that's not what I meant. I am afraid of what others might think about us!"

"Psst! I'm not finished yet, I was just getting to that. These thoughts torture me too. How are my parents going to react? How are _your_ parents going to react? I know that they like me and are happy about me being your best friend, since the very beginning. but what would they say if they knew I'm your _boyfriend_? I couldn't stand it if they would ignore me then, if everyone ignores me. My life was easy until now and being with you is going to change my life! Whether it's good or bad, we will discover that soon, but now we have to stick together and support each other! You have to understand that, Jeff."

A small group of people has stopped when they walked by. They shot glances at Nick and Jeff sitting on the bench, and whispered secretly. It's not often the case that two boys wearing the same outfit sat together, holding hands, conversing animatedly.

"Can we...can we talk about that somewhere else?", Jeff asked and frowned, becoming even more nervous because of the gazes of the strangers.

Nick had just warmed up and wanted to get everything straight right now and then. But Jeff looked at him and added a silent "Please?". That's the moment Nick saw that Jeff had tears welling up in his eyes. It cut Nick to the quick and without any words he stood up and walked with Jeff back to Dalton.

Nick would have loved to put his arm around Jeff and to pull him closer to him to show everyone that Jeff was _his_. Nevertheless they were still being watched by the group of people, still darting disapproving glances at them. They seemed to be one of those people who disapprove everything that isn't _normal_. And Nick didn't wan't to risk more dismissive glances.

And he didn't want to hurt Jeff.

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><p>Thank you for the review and the alert! :) That made my day!<p>

Anyways, I hope that you liked this chapter, I'm going to update soon again :)


	3. Promise

Chapter 3: A promise is made

"So?", Nick asked when they were back at their room and he sat down on the bed.

Jeff walked up and down the room, arms folded. "So _what_?"

"Are you serious? I poured my _heart_ out to you! And you, you say nothing at all! I'm starting to believe that you don't really care..."

Jeff paused and turned around to Nick, who looked angrily at him. "Oh, believe me, Nick, I care! What the hell do you think of me? Do you think I don't care about your feelings? OF COURSE I do! I mean..." Groping for the right words he sat down on the edge of the bed, in front of Nick. He took a deep breath before he went on.

"Nick." This time he grabbed his hands and patted them. "Never before did someone mean so much to me! You are adorable and I still can't believe that you chose _me_ over all of the boys here. I can be so happy about having someone like you." He reached his hand out and put it on Nick's cheek to lift his head up.

"I love you, Nick, and no one is ever going to change that. I want to be by your side for my whole life and make you smile. I want to live with you, doesn't matter where, as long as I can wake up next to you and kiss you. You mean everything to me, and you should never think that I don't care at all for you. Cause I do. To be honest, Nicky, I would do everyth-"

He wasn't able to go on talking because Nick put his head between his hands and pressed his lips on his.

"Jeff, you are so damn cheesy! When you go on like that I can't control myself! I love you too and want to be with you forever." He kissed Jeff and smiled. But Jeff reacted with a hesitant smile.

"What is it?"

"I'm afraid."

Again. Nick's heart skipped a beat. Jeff had dropped his gaze and leaned back a bit. He looked so sad and desperate. Tears welled up in his eyes and he tried to get rid of the lump in his throat. He wasn't able to do it.

"Of what exactly, Jeff?" In response to that Jeff bursted into tears, whereupon Nick leaned forward immediately to put his arms around the crying boy. He caressed his back and held Jeff's head right next to his own. Unsure of what to say, Nick stayed like that until Jeff had stopped crying and had calmed down.

"Better?", Nick asked hesitantly and looked Jeff straight into the eyes. Jeff nodded and bit on his lip. He had to fight back the tears, unsuccessful. As the tears ran down his face again, Nick held him close. This time also Jeff put his arms around Nick as if his life dependet on it.

"Promise that you will always be there", Jeff whispered and tightened his grip. "Don't let go, ever."

Nick took a deep breath and nodded. "I promise!", he whispered back.


	4. Blaine as Nick's hero

Chapter 4: Blaine is Nick's (and Jeff's) hero

On the next day Jeff didn't go to his classes. He felt ill, even though it wasn't because of his body or something, but because of his aching heart. Nick, however, braced himself up for classes and tried to avoid any contact with anyone, even with Blaine. All along he looked out of the window and was always requested to "please pay attention" by the teachers. Every time Nick just nodded slightly, absorbed in thoughts.

Like a picture of misery he sat on his chair and listened to nobody, gazing into space. He never thought he would feel so miserable, even though it wasn't because of him.

Jeff. All the time through, Nick thought of him. He felt with him, all the fears, pains and concerns. Nick understood Jeff and wanted to be with him, but if they both stayed away from classes, someone would become suspicious. That's why he was glad when it finally ringed.

"Where is Jeff?", Blaine asked as he stood in front of Nick's table, looking down at the sad looking boy. Nick didn't even look up, he packed his bag and stood up, leaving without saying a word.

Blaine frowned. It was like Nick was in his own small world, like in a bubble, seperated from the real world. It was obvious that something was up with him. And because he was one of his closest friends, Blaine had to help him.

Nick tried not to run as he went to his and Jeff's room. He nearly couldn't have beared it and just wanted to hug Jeff. When he closed the door, he immediately went over to Jeff's bed and kneeled down next to it.

Jeff was asleep and Nick had to admit that he had never looked so happy. A smile flashed over his face. He wished that Jeff was not only happy in his_ dreams_. Slowly he lifted his hand up to touch Jeff's face. The blonde hair shined in the sunlight. Nick stroked it and leaned over to give Jeff a kiss on his forehead.

It was then when Jeff opened his eyes. He felt Nick's presence and turned his head to him. If he wouldn't have been so depressed, he would have smiled and given him a pinch on the cheek. But he looked down and put the blanket closer to him.

"I missed you", he mumbled.

"You have no idea how much I missed _you_!", Nick replied and raised an eyebrow. Jeff sat up and Nick stood up to sit down next to him. He grabbed Jeff's hand and took a deep breath, wanting to say something.

That's when someone knocked on the door and opened it slowly.

"Nick?" Both recognized Blaine's voice immediately and Jeff backed away from Nick, putting as much space between them as possible without falling out of the bed. Blaine entered the room and forgot what he wanted to say at the sight of the two boys sitting on the bed. He had never seen Nick and Jeff so sad, because they used to be the happiest and funniest guys in school, always smiling.

But now they both just sat there and stared at Blaine. Well, _Nick_ was staring at Blaine, Jeff looked concentrated out of the window.

After a while Blaine stepped forward and looked at Nick. "Are you mad at me, Nick?", he asked and sat down on a chair.

Nick shook his head. "No, it's just that I'm in a bad mood today."

"How come?" Blaine was curious.

"It's quite personal, and I don't want to talk about it." Nick spoke slowly and quiet, so that Blaine nearly didn't understand him.

"That's okay, I just thought, I could help you..."

Nick shook his head and Blaine stood up. He would have never thought that Nick would be so upset, that he doesn't want to talk. That's why he wanted to leave and wait for now. He went to the door and was about to open it...

"Tell him." Jeff's voice was both shaky and determined. He looked at Nick, who was surprised.

Blaine turned around and frowned. "Tell me _what_?"

Jeff bit his lip and nodded to Nick. What Blaine couldn't see is that Nick grabbed Jeff's hand under the blanket and squeezed it a little bit.

"Blaine, can you sit down, please? You drive me crazy when you stand like that." So Blaine sat down again and listened carefully to Nick.

"The reason for my bad mood – and for Jeff staying in bed today – is..." Nick swallowed and gathered courage. He could feel how his heart sped up. "Jeff and I, we-"

"Are together", Blaine continued the sentence. Jeff got scared to death and let go off Nick's hand. "What? Do you think I haven't seen that you are holding hands?" He smiled. "Please, as if I wouldn't notice."

Jeff shot a glance at Nick before he looked at Blaine. "We...are a couple since a few days." He suddenly had the urge to tell Blaine everything.

"Do your parents know-"

"No", Nick replied and shook his head.

"You both are afraid, right?" Blaine sighed and clasped his hands. "You know, when I realized that I was gay I _was_ _afraid_. I was twelve and was in the throes of puberty, my parents had already enough trouble with me. I was afraid of telling them, but I knew that I had to. That's why I waited. Not until after a few months I gathered all my courage and told my mom about it." He paused, why Nick and Jeff waited expectantly. They wanted to know how it went on.

"She didn't care. I remember exactly what she said: _Whether you're gay, straight, purple, orange, dinosaur...I don't care. I love my hobbit son and I just want you to be happy, Blaine!_"

"She didn't say that, did she?", Nick asked and frowned.

Blaine smiled mischievously. "No. But I knew that she thought it. She didn't say anything at all, she just hugged me."

Jeff couldn't resist it. He had to smile, which is why Nick sighed with relief. "Finally."

"What?", Blaine asked wondering and looked at Nick.

Nick pointed at Jeff. "You made him smile." Jeff turned his head to look at Nick and turned red. He didn't know that Nick was so reliefed when he simply smiled.

"Anyways, my mom and I spent the night watching old movies. And she asked me about _all the cute boys_." He laughed when he remembered it as if it happened yesterday.

"Poor you", Jeff said and smiled again. Nick hadn't been so happy like that for days.

"Quite the opposite! My mom was amazing and supported me where she could. But my father...he treated me differently and tried to straighten me out...obviously unsuccessfully!" As he said it, he spread his arms and presented himself proudly.

"What I'm trying to say is that you don't need to hide or anything. Besides, most of us here already kinda _know_, well, I knew it all the time."

Nick blushed.

"Yes, you could tell by looking at you. It was always just a little bit too much for _best friends_, you know." He had an idea. "When you want to make it official – well, here at Dalton -, I recommend you to sing a duet. But take your time, no need to rush or anything!" Saying this, he stood up and smiled at Nick and Jeff. Now they were holding hands again. "To be totally honest, I envy you in some ways", Blaine admitted and went to the door.

Just before he wanted to close it to leave the boys alone, he heard Nick saying something. "Wait a second, Blaine." Nick sprang to his feet and followed Blaine, whereby he left the door slightly open. "Thank you."

"For what?", Blaine replied and patted Nick's shoulder. He winked and turned around. Nick took a deep breath and went back to Jeff.

"Thank god you're not purple or orange." Meanwhile Jeff had stood up and put his blazer on.

"Thank god you're not a _hobbit_!" That made Jeff laugh out loud. He couldn't resist to go over and just wrap his arms around Nick.

"That was mean", whispered Jeff.

"No offense, but you are way hotter than our hobbit friend!" Nick squinted his eyes and put his arms around Jeff. Finally he was laughing again.


	5. Jeff's decision

Chapter 5: Jeff makes a decision

"Finally weekend!", Nick shouted as he went with Jeff and Blaine to their rooms.

"Yeah", said Blaine and smiled. "Are you two coming tomorrow, too?"

"What's up tomorrow?", Jeff asked curiously.

"Wes wanted to have all the Warblers together for an awesome evening. Again..."

Jeff opened his eyes wide. He immediately thought of the last Warbler-evening. Someone brought some alcohol and nearly everyone ended up being drunk and revealing some of his secrets no one wants to know. Especially the game "Truth or dare" reveals _interesting_ things. And Jeff feared that the thing with him and Nick would be no longer a secret.

"I think I won't come", he said therefore and was glad that they were already at their rooms. He opened the door and disappeared.

Blaine eyed Nick suspiciously. "I don't want to sound like a know-all, but maybe some distraction would do Jeff good..." He perked his eyebrows up and bit on his lip.

"I don't know", Nick mumbled and frowned. "But I can understand him. I'm not so keen on going either-"

"But you _have_ to! Without you it won't be fun!" Blaine cocked his head and sighed. "You too need some distraction, Nick! You are taking care of Jeff for days now and totally forget about yourself!"

"What would _you_ do if you were me, huh?" Nick's heart began to race. "Jeff is upset and I can't just stand there and watch! I am the only person who's there for him!"

"Sorry", Blaine said apologetic. "I didn't mean _that_. I just thought that you two should relax to forget all that stuff you're going through right now."

Nick stepped towards the door and nodded. "I'm going to talk with Jeff then." Without a reply, Blaine turned around and made his way to his room. Nick hadn't even closed the door as Jeff sat down on his bed and crossed his arms. "I'm definitely NOT going!"

"Why not?", Nick asked and put his bag on the floor.

Jeff looked at him disapprovingly. "Did you forget how all these evenings end? Everyone's drunk and-"

"Jeff, PLEASE!" Nick rolled his eyes. "You are paranoid!" He startet to breath faster and put his hands on his waist. His face turned red as he looked at Jeff.

"Am I?", Jeff replied snippy and suddenly had a lump in his throat.

Nick nodded fiercly. "You are behaving like a child!" He didn't care that his voice got louder and that he was nearly screaming. "Stop acting like an idiot! I can't stand that!"

A long while Nick and Jeff were looking at each other. Nick was angry and Jeff hurt and terrified. Then Jeff looked at the ground and slowly raised his hand to wipe away the tears. He took a deep breath and noticed that he was shuddering. Slowly Nick realized what he just said...and he regretted it.

"Jeff, I..." But Jeff already ran out of the room and slammed the door.

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><p>"Jeff, please tell me where you are!" That was by now Nick's 14. message on Jeff's voicemail. He still couldn't believe that he shouted at Jeff. <em>JEFF!<em>

"Maybe he drove home?", Blaine asked. After struggling with himself for a longer time, Nick decided to go to Blaine and told him everything. Now he was sitting on Nick's bed and watched him going crazy.

"No way!" Nick shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Dammit! How could I be so stupid?"

Blaine sighed. "It was only a matter of time before you couldn't take it any longer, Nick. Be happy that nothing worse happened."

"Nothing WORSE? I yelled him right in the face that he was acting like an idiot!" Again, Nick was screaming even though he didn't want to. But what could he do? He blamed himself and was simply furious.

Blaine didn't answer, he just looked awkwardly at his hands.

"Sorry, Blaine, it's just..." Nick leaned against the wall and prostrated. "I can't stand it any longer."

"I know." Blaine stood up and sat down beside him. He put a hand on Nick's shoulder to make him feel less alone.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Even though Jeff made him angry with his behaviour, Nick worried about him. It was Jeff after all, _his_ Jeff.

"First of all, Jeff has to calm down, I think. Maybe it's good for him to know the truth, because...he _was_ acting like an idiot!" Blaine got an angry glance from Nick.

"Don't you start with that! It's already enough that...I told him."

"I'm not, don't worry. But you have to be honest...at least Jeff now _knows_ that you can't deal with it!"

"Exactly! But I know Jeff very well and I _know_ that he got it wrong and now thinks that I _hate_ him!"

"Jeff would never think that, Nick, never." Blaine tried to cheer him up with a smile. He wanted to encourage him. "I know that he loves you."

"And where is he then?" Nick perked up his eyebrows questioningly. He had never been so desperate.

Blaine dropped his gaze. He didn't know how to respond to that and it cut him to the quick to see Nick hurt.

"See?", Nick whispered and let his head fall against the wall.

"He is going to come back, believe me", Blaine said, squeezed Nick's shoulder and stood up to leave him alone for now.

"I hope so." Nick closed his eyes.

The next couple of hours were the worst of Nick's entire life. He had absolutely no idea what he could possibly do, he just wanted to have Jeff beside him. He wanted to make amends for what he had done. He wanted to see Jeff smile, so he himself could feel better.

The sun set and Nick layed down on his bed. There were definitely over 40 messages on Jeff's voicemail, and counting. Every minute Nick took a look at the display to not miss any sign from Jeff. But after a while Nick closed his eyes. He didn't care that he still wore his blazer and the lights were on. He just wanted to _sleep_.

Ten minutes later. The door squeaked as Jeff tiptoed into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible. He layed down on his bed and turned the lights off.

"Where have you been?" Nick didn't move and stared at the wall, watching the dancing shadows of the trees outside.

"Doesn't matter", Jeff replied shortly and tucked himself up to avoid a conversation. But Nick wanted one.

"I really worried about you, you know?" It was merely a whisper.

"Good to know." Irony.

Nick sat up, spotting Jeff's silhouette in the darkness. "Why do you keep doing this?"

"What?"

"Treating me as if I am a total dumbass! I just want the best for you, and I want you to be _happy_!"

"And why did you yell at me and insult me?" Nick could tell because of his voice that Jeff was shortly before crying.

"Cause I can't fuckin' stand it any longer!", Nick yelled and chlenched his hands into fists. The bad feeling in his stomach was back. "Jeff, you act like everyone hates and judges you, but that's not true! No one here – except for Blaine – knows about us, so you have nothing to be afraid of. I...I'm not able to stand by and watch as you are so afraid that you stop being yourself."

A sob came from Jeff's side of the room. It made Nick feel an ache in his heart and he put his hand on his chest, so he could calm himself down. "I'm really sorry, Jeff."

"And _I'm sorry_ that I can't believe you", Jeff replied. He wiped away the tears and took a deep breath.

"I'm such an idiot!", Nick said to himself and buried his face in his hands. Again he had changed from angry to extremely sad within seconds. "And I'm awfully sorry..."

Jeff bit on his lip and didn't find the right words to say, he didn't even know what do _think_. Admittedly, he was glad that Jeff had apologized, but...why?

"Because I love you, Jeff." Oh right, that's why.

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><p><strong><em>FLASHBACK (a few weeks before)<em>**

"Hurry up, I have to get ready, too!", Jeff shouted and knocked against the bathroom door.

"Yeeeah, calm down", Nick answered and hummed a song to himself. After a few seconds he started to sing as loud as he could as he was standing in the shower. "_And we're caught up in the crossfire of heaven and hell. And we're searching for shelter. Lay your body down, lay your body down, lay your body down._"

Jeff went over to the window and watched the sun rise. He had to admit that Nick's voice sounded awesome. "You sing very well", he said therefore as Nick walked out of the bathroom, his hair still wet.

Nick just threw a disapproving glance at Jeff. "And why do I never have a Warbler solo then?" He laughed and put his blazer on.

"Good question!" Jeff walked towards the bathroom and paused in the door frame to turn around. "Nicky?"

Nick didn't like that nickname and waited before he responded. "...yes?"

"Will you sing something for me tonight?"

"Are you crazy?" Nick laughed and Jeff couldn't help but smile.

"I'm serious."

Nick paused for a moment and looked at Jeff. "I shall consider it. Let's see how you behave today and if you deserve to be sung to sleep by me, Nick, the greatest singer of all time!"

"Challenge accepted", Jeff answered and blinked. He turned around and went into the bathroom. He closed the door and leaned against it. He could hear his heart beating. Apparently he seemed to _love_ Nick's voice, otherwise he wouldn't have turned around again and opened the door.

"Does it matter, _how_ I'm going to convince you?" A sly smile played around his lips and he perked up his eyebrows gleefully.

Surprised by the sound of Jeff's voice, which made Nick's heart speeding up, he walked over to Jeff and stood right in front of him. "No borders are set for you, _Jeff darling_", he said low-voiced and winked.

Nick's voice sent shivers down Jeff's spine and he smiled. "Very good." He bent forwards and kissed Nick. Slowly he put his hand on his's cheek and then stepped backwards. Before he closed the door between them, he winked at Nick and smiled.

**_END FLASHBACK_**

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><p>Jeff hadn't realized that Nick had stood up and now layed down beside him. He could feel Nick's head against his shoulder and an arm around his chest. Silence, but then...<p>

"_Wake you up in the middle of the night to say 'I will never walk away again'. I'm never gonna leave this bed."_

Jeff got goose bumps as soon as Nick started to sing. He could feel his heartbeat again and didn't know what to do with his hands. Although they had been lying like this before, it was different _now_.

"_You say 'Go, it isn't working' and I say 'No, it isn't perfect', so I stay instead, I'm never gonna leave this bed."_

Nick turned his head to look at Jeff. He waited for a reaction, and Jeff knew that, but he didn't find a better response than this:

"_Though I don't understand the meaning of love, I do not mind if I die trying. Took it for granted when you lifted me up._" He paused and grabbed Nick's hands."_I'm asking for your help, I am going through hell, afraid nothing can safe me but the sound of your voice_."

Nick tightened his grip and blushed.

"Nick, I...I'm sorry, too. I know that my behaviour was totally inappropriate and that I caused you a lot of stress. I'm _so_ sorry, but I didn't know what to do. I guess that I'm too afraid of everything right now and that this _secret thing_ drives me crazy!" Jeff took a deep breath and sighed. "Nick, I've made a decision."

Fearing the worst, Nick looked up at him and frowned. Did he want to end the thing they had?

"I want everyone to know about us", Jeff said and moved closer. Nick sighed with relief. He smiled and gave Jeff a little peck on the cheek. "Me too", he muttered.

"So? Tomorrow evening? Warblers?", Jeff asked and perked up his eyebrows.

"I'd love to!", Nick answered and grinned broadly.

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><p>If you want to know the songs: first one is "Crossfire" by Brandon Flowers, second one is "Never Gonna Leave This Bed" and third "How", both by Maroon 5. Listen to them! :)<p>

Hope you liked this chapter, because I love it :D


	6. Truth or Dare

Chapter 6: The Warblers play Truth or Dare

Because too less Warblers have "real" names I gave them some. So if it matters to you who is who, then I recommend you to google their names to see whom I gave which name. If it doesn't, just skip this part:

Jon Hall: Neil; Aaron Page: Jim; Matt Hall: Ben; Cooper Rowe: Max; Steven Skyler: Pete

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><p>"Ready?"<p>

"Just a second!", Jeff shouted from inside the bathroom. It was already 9pm. Nick rolled his eyes. He knew how crazy Jeff was about his hair and his compulsion about always looking perfect – at least his hair should be.

"Hurry, Jeff, we are already late!" Nick tied his shoes and simply ruffled up his hair, needing 14 minutes less than Jeff. Strands were hanging loosely, some of them covering his face. That's the way he liked his hair, and he knew that Jeff liked it as well. He had to smirk unintentionally at the thought of that.

"Have a little...patience!", Jeff sang loudly, walking into the room with a huge smile on his face.

"Let's go...", Nick said without looking at him, heading towards the door, about to open it.

"Hang on", Jeff mumbled, turning around and spurting into the bathroom again. _Just one...last...look, perfect!_ The reflection in the mirror winked at him and then he went back to Nick.

"Ready?" Nick gave Jeff a disapproving look. Jeff nodded and left the room, Nick followed him. They already heard the Warblers yelling and laughing when they walked up the stairs to the common room. Nearly changing his mind, Jeff stopped and was about to go back, but Nick grabbed his wrist.

"Don't", he simply said, forcing Jeff to go on.

"Please don't make me-"

"Ah, _there_ you are!" Blaine appeared behind the door and looked at them. "We were already thinking you two won't come!"

"Well, here we are", Nick said and smiled. He let go of Jeff's wrist and folded his arms. Blaine noticed that Nick's face started to turn red – and he noticed the body contact. That's why a smile played upon his lips. "Come on in!" Nick shot a quick glance at Jeff and took a deep breath before he followed Blaine into the room. Jeff was right behind him.

"Nick!"

"Jeff!"

"We were already missing you!", Trent said and smiled at them like he couldn't be happy without them. He was sitting with Jim, Neil, Thad and Pete at a table. Max, Ben, Wes and David were on the other side of the room. Jeff closed the door and looked like he was closing the door to his freedom and peace. He just _knew_ that something bad was going to happen that night, but he didn't know exactly _what_... He looked around and spotted Blaine who had sat down on a chair next to a window. He held a red cup in his hand.

"Alcoholic?", Jeff asked as he positioned himself in front of him.

"I hope _not_", Blaine answered, taking a sip. "Alcohol makes me dance like a monkey! But don't expect _those_ drinks to be non-alcoholic..." He made a gesture with his left hand to point loosely at the group with Wes and David.

"I don't!", Jeff assured without any hesitation and shook his head. Then he dropped his gaze and slightly lifted his head up again to search for Nick in the room.

"Over there." Blaine smiled knowingly – he immediately noticed the different look in Jeff's eyes – and pointed with his head to the right.

Jeff flushed. "Shhh!", he hissed and made sure that nobody was looking at them.

"Don't be ridiculous, Jeff. It's not like it's _normal_ to look at your best friend. No one's gonna interpret someting, cause they don't _know_."

"Yeah, I know. But I just have no idea how to behave when he's around..."

"Don't bother, dude, everything's fine", Blaine said and patted his shoulder gently. "He's coming over." Jeff turned around and winced because Nick was already standing in front if him.

"Thirsty?", he asked, handing Jeff a cup with coke.

"Thank you." Jeff took the cup and nipped on it. Music was turned on and some Warblers started to dance.

"Oh yeah", Thad sang and moved his body to the rhythm. "Let's get the party started, woooo!"

Hours passed. Needless to say, everyone but Nick, Jeff, Blaine and David was being a bit drunk and therefore unusually happy, extraordinary talkative and alarmingly honest – more or less. "So, what are we gonna do now?", Pete yelled as he raised his cup being pretty clumsy and spilling half of his drink.

"Truth or dare?", Ben suggested. Jeff froze immediately. He _knew_ that was coming! Damn, why didn't he just stay in bed? He toyed with the idea of just standing up and leaving. Then he felt Nick's gaze and shifted slightly.

"Gather around, boys, truth or dare it is then!", Wes announced and sat down on a couch.

Neil was the first one to be dared. He had to drink one self-mixed drink by Ben in one go. Fortunately, it went well. And then it was his turn. "Mhmm..." He pretended to twirl a non-existing beard and let his gaze linger longer on Jeff than on the others.

_Oh no, my turn. I don't want to do anything. What do I choose? Truth or dare?_

"Jeff!" _Damn it!_

"Truth." _Cause I_ _don't want to be dared to do something I would regret tomorrow..._

"If you should kiss either Blaine or Nick, _who_ would it be?" Neil closed his eyes, so that he was hardly looking at Jeff. He folded his arms and waited for an answer – just like a detective solving a crime. Jeff's heart skipped a beat. _He did NOT just ask that...Aww man, why did I even go here?_

Blaine was about to stand up. "No, Neil, these are the kind of questions that cause so much trouble and I for one wouldn't answer a question like th-"

"Nick." Everyone stopped with whatever they were doing at that moment to look at Jeff. The boy simply shrugged and started to pale. Luckily everyone was surprised that Jeff had answered the question, so nobody noticed that Nick automatically smiled - and immediately stopped. He had such an amazing boyfriend and he could feel something like pride for Jeff being totally honest. Before anyone was able to ask more questions, Jeff cleared his throat. "Thad?"

"Me?", Thad opened his eyes widely and started to smile. "Oh my god, what do I take...uuhh. Truth!" No one was thinking about Jeff's answer anymore, except for Trent who kept on looking from Jeff to Nick to Jeff and to Nick again, drawing conclusions for himself. He smirked as he noticed how the two boys avoided to look at each other, feeling slightly uncomfortable and – yes, apparently _caught_. At least Jeff did.

"What was the most embarassing moment of your life?"

"Hm..." Thad thought about it for a few seconds. He wasn't ashamed of anything he had done until then. "I think it was in elementary school. I was so in love with this girl and you can't imagine how happy I was when she invited me to her birthday!" Some Warblers mumbled. "What's embarassing about _that_?"

"Is it because it was a _girl_ who invited you?", Trent said raising one eyebrow. Jim bursted out into laughter. Thad blushed and lowered his voice. "No?" He cleared his throat and went on. "So, me and my best friend went to her house and we were the only boys there. I tried to get closer to Abby-"

"ABBY! HAHA!"

"Stop it, Jim, what's so funny about that?", David asked and frowned. Jim immediately stopped and lowered his head.

"Anyways, as you all know, you play all these games on birthday parties, and Abby insisted on playing _7 minutes in heaven_..."

Ben whistled, obviously remembering the fun he had while playing this game.

"Yeah, I _know_! And I knew that that was my only chance to get closer to her. That's the reason why I went into the cupboard without any contradiction, because she winked at me before the door closed, like, you know, showing me that she will be next. So when the door opened again and a person came to me, I could literally smell her. It was dark, but I could feel that she stood right in front of me, so I leaned forward and-"

"IT WASN'T ABBY!", Jim yelled and bursted out into laughter again. Everyone looked bewildered at him. "Well, Thad told me the story before..."

"Right." Thad shrugged. "It was the first time I kissed a guy – and it was my best friend at that time!" Everyone started to laugh, except for Wes.

"Did you just say _the first time_ you kissed a guy?" Everyone stopped laughing. Thad's eyes widened and his heartbeat was the only sound he could hear. _Oh shit... _"So you've kissed a guy _again_?"

"Like, you know, _really_ or in a game?" Thad blushed. Jeff did become really quite too. He looked concerned and couldn't help but moving closer to Nick, feeling his leg touching his own – because he needed someone, his fear was back again. Nick turned his head around. Noticing Jeff's look, he put on a soothing look and slowly rubbed his leg.

"Come on, Thad, tell us. Are you into guys?"

"Enough questions! Thad just had to answer _one_ question, so let's go on", Wes said, gesturing with his hands. He didn't want the evening to end in a disaster. "Just choose the next one, Thad!"

"Max."

"Alright!" Max clapped his hands. "Dare."

"I dare you to run up and down the hallways in only your underwear!" Everyone laughed, because it was kind of a tradition. Every time they had played this game, someone ended up running through the hallways in nothing but his underwear. Neil, Ben and Trent started to wolf whistle as Jim and Pete made cat noises. Max laughed and took his clothes off, except for the underwear. _Oh right, I put those on..._

"Are you serious, Max?", Jim asked as he noticed them. "Superman-pants?"

"That's the way he tells girls that he is super in bed!" Ben winked and made everyone laugh out loud.

"Now get a move on!", Thad requested and stood up. Max made his way out of the room and ran. Everyone went to the door to see the boy run through the hallways. "IT'S CLARK KENT!", Thad yelled and bursted out into laughter, the others tuning in.

After two minutes, Max was back, gasping for air. "I'm gonna never say dare again." They sat down again and Max quickly put his clothes back on. As he sat down as well, he looked around. "I think it's time for..." He frowned and smirked. "Blaine!"

"DARE!", Blaine yelled as if he was waiting all night to be next, making everyone jump at his enthusiastic scream, and nearly everyone applauded joyfully.

"Awesome! Well, I dare you to..." Max let his gaze wander around to see if he finds something interesting he could dare Blaine to do. He really wanted Blaine to make a fool of himself. "I dare you to kiss Nick!", he finally stated, remembering that Blaine had mentioned that he once had a crush on Nick.

Nick flushed because everyone turned to his direction. Laughter and whispers – and a concerned looking Jeff. "You don't have to if you don't want to", Trent said quickly, obviously trying to prevent the possible action. (Jeff made a mental note to thank him later, at a more appropriate time.)

Someone whispered "Coward!" and others started to laugh again. Blaine looked at Nick, asking if it would be okay by raising one eyebrow. Even though he was aware of the fact that Nick was Jeff's boyfriend and Jeff was in the same room (darting malignant glances at him) he knew that he couldn't avoid it. NOT doing it would be worse than actually doing it. With a last look at Nick to make sure that he was – according to the circumstances - fine with it, he moved closer and slowly closed his eyes, Nick doing the same.

Jeff froze as he saw their lips meeting. Pretty strange feeling to see your boyfriend kissing another guy who happens to be one of your best friends. He could feel his face starting to burn and his breath shortening.

"Yeah, man!"

"Go for it, Blaine!"

"Don't forget that we're still here!"

"Woooooooooohh!"

"Scratch what I said, just don't let us interrupt you!"

"Aww man, they should get a room!"

"PLEASE STOP!"

Silence. Just the noise of Blaine's and Nick's lips seperating. Jeff was now standing and looking down at Nick and Blaine. He knew that everyone was staring at him, even though he had closed his eyes to think for a second. _Calm down, Jeff, it's just a game._ _By the way, you just gave them reasons to question your behaviour. Well done... _He hid his face in his hands.

"Jeff?", Blaine asked quietly and stood up, walking over to him.

"What was that about?", Neil asked confused, Max wildly nodding in agreement – everyone was confused. Again, except for Trent.

"Oh my god, that's a dream coming true!", Trent whispered to Thad and his eyes sparkled. "It's like christmas, just better!"

"Jeff, I'm sorry if that was offendi-"

"Yes." Jeff lowered his arms and folded them. "Yes, that was offending."

All the Warblers had never been so quiet before. They were sitting on the floor, some of them with their mouths open, others with a surprised expression on their faces. Nick didn't know what to do. He was still distracted by the kiss and wasn't able to think properly.

"Do you want to talk? In private?", Blaine asked, his voice sounding like he was shouting even though he was hardly speaking normally.

"Blaine, what is this all about? Are you guys like..._a couple_?", Pete asked curiously.

"Pete, please, if you wouldn't be so drunk, you would remember that Jeff said earlier, that he would prefer kissing _Nick_ instead of Blaine. So if Blaine and Jeff are a couple, he would've never said that, wouldn't he?", Ben stated, earning a disapproving look from Pete.

"I'm not _that_ drunk!"

"So Blaine and Nick are a couple and Jeff got overly angry about their kiss because he is secretly in love with Nick? Or Blaine?" Neil was still confused.

Trent shook his head. "Let me get this straight, I know what's happening here." He stood up and slowly walked up and down the room. "It's not about Blaine, it's just about Nick and Jeff! THEY are a couple and probably the cutest-"

"Guys, it's enough!" David tried to remedy the situation. "Stop drawing conclusions, that are our _friends_ we are talking about, so don't be ridiculous."

"David, I _knew_ that we were going to regret starting an evening like this!", Wes said desperate.

"Regret?", Blaine asked. He could see that Nick and Jeff weren't able to say anything, and he had the urge to defend them and their behaviour. "What is it you would have to regret?" No answer, just silence. "Exactly, _nothing_! Anyways, we shouldn't care about other's lives so much. At least not so much to make fun of th-"

"Can I say something?" Jeff's silent voice interrupted him. Blaine looked at him and nodded. "Thank you." Jeff stepped forward, his heart pounding like mad. "I don't really know where to begin." He coughed slightly and could feel Nick right behind him – it bolstered him up.

The Warblers have become a bunch of young children listening to a bedtime story – they hung on Jeff's every word. "I'm gay", he finally said. "And I'm happy about it. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to call this beautiful boy my boyfriend." He moved to the left to let Nick step forward, placing himself right next to Jeff. Silence. Not even breathing was hearable. But then...

"YAAAY!" Trent ran over to them and hugged them both. "I _knew_ it. All the time!"

"Yeah, me too", Thad admitted, winked and smiled at Nick and Jeff, who were looking slightly overwhelmed.

"I didn't!" Ben folded his arms. "Why did everyone knew but me?" Wes and David grinned.

"You are serious, right?", Max asked. "This is no stupid game of yours?"

"Because it's not funny at all!", Neil added. Nick and Jeff were still speechless – also Trent was still hugging them, making sweet noises and smiling like a child.

"I'm very happy for you, both of you", Wes said and David nodded. "Yeah, finding love is always such a great thing", he added.

"Well, thank you...", Nick answered confused and looked at Jeff. "We appreciate your kindness and-"

"Thank you for not turning my life into a horrible nightmare!", Jeff said and felt Nick's hand on his shoulder. He turned his head around and Nick could see that it took a load off his mind.

"Aww, you are so cute!"

"Stop it, Trent, you are way too keen on all this for my liking." David frowned and eyed him suspiciously.

"Well, sorry, but I just can't believe that this is really happening!"

"You act like YOU are the one in a relationship, but you are not. And that's simply weird!"

"Okay okay, I get it!" Trent raised his hands in apology.

Jeff shook his head and had to suppress the urge to burst out into laughter, because Trent was so hilarious! He saw that Nick was smiling too and simply squeezed his arm, pulling him closer. The other Warblers were smiling as well, everyone was fine with Nick and Jeff being a couple. And Jeff was so happy about that, no one could imagine!

Everything went back to normal and they sat down again to continue the game. Blaine was sitting right next to Nick and Jeff, feeling slightly proud of what his best friends had done. With a huge grin on his face, he looked out for the next _victim_...

"Just one last question – I was thinking about it for a longer time now as I always knew that you are together", Trent said and raised his eyebrows. "Did you guys already, you know, _do_ it?"

"TRENT!", both Wes and David yelled. Ben, who had the bad luck to sit between them, jumped and had to cover his ears. Neil and Jim laughed, the others tuning in after a few seconds. "Seems like you will be the new most discussed couple here at Dalton", Blaine said, looking at Nick and Jeff. The two buys just sat there, not moving an inch. Jeff's face was as red as never before, and Nick shifted uncomfortably. "I guess we just have to deal with it then", Nick replied after clearing his throat.

"But you didn't answer my ques-"

"TRENT! Just...g-get out if you can't behave yourself!", David claimed and made a gesture to the door. "And you won't get neither a solo nor a background part in the next Warbler performance!", Wes added, feeling (and being) like a boss.

"As you wish." Trent stood up and slowly walked out of the room with his head held high and handsome.

"That wasn't necessary", Jeff said, feeling kind of sad for Trent – although his behaviour scared him a little bit. He erased the mental note about thanking him, cause he found it to be way too weird that Trent was so curious about his and Nick's relationship.

"Oh yes, it _was_!", Wes replied and nodded heavily.

"Alright, let's play", Blaine said and looked at Thad. "I choose you, baby", he said with a low voice, pretending like he is a bad guy.

"Aw no, I don't want to!"

"Coward", Jim whispered and sticked his toungue out as Thad was darting an angry glance at him.

"Dare", he said and grunted. He wouldn't pick truth. Not _again_.

"Kiss Jim!" Blaine clapped into his hands, finding that this was the perfect dare. Jim turned pale. "You gotta be kidding me." Thad shook his head.

Jeff cocked his head and grinned mischievously. "This is going to be an amazing evening", he whispered to Nick.

Nick grabbed his hand and smiled happily. "It already is."

* * *

><p>Uuuuh, I loved writing this! :)<p>

So tell me what you think about it! ;)


	7. The Smythe brothers

Chapter 7: The Smythe brothers

After Thad and Jim shared a kiss which was equally awkward for everybody in the room, Wes clapped into his hands. "Alright, boys, time for bed!", he announced and was about to stand up, but Thad stopped him.

"Just one more, okay?", he asked, his heart still beating because of the kiss. He didn't know how to feel about it since it was his best friend he was kissing, but he had to admit that he kinda _liked_ it.

"Just ONE more, Thad, I don't want to take anyone of you to his dorm because he fell to sle-" His gaze fell upon Ben and Max who were lying on the ground, snoring, "oh well, nevermind. Go on."

Thad smiled successfully and looked around, happy to let anyone other be the last person who will stay in mind of everybody. He didn't like the idea of everyone thinking about his and Jim's kiss. "Nick, you are the lucky one!"

When Nick heard his name, he immediately woke up from his half-sleep and rubbed his eye. "Truth."

"Why do you love Jeff?", Thad asked bluntly and cocked his head. Everyone was wide awake again, darting curious glances at Nick. Also Jeff had turned his head around, noticing that Nick had grabbed his hand.

"I... well, I..." Nick stuttered and started to blush. The fact that everyone was looking at him didn't actually help. "I-I don't know", he said after a while, earning some disappointed moans. To find an answer, he looked at Jeff and searched for something he could say is the reason he loved him. His smile? His hair? His everything? But _what_ exactly was it? "I-I just do."

"That's the right answer", David announced, ruining the lovely moment for those who had started to smile at Nick's answer. "And now everybody to bed!" With moans and sighs, everyone stood up and made their way out of the room, except for Wes and David, who were trying to find a way to put Ben and Max to their beds. They ended up carrying them to their dorms, just like parents use to do at night after returning from a trip with the family.

"I'm so glad that we did this", Jeff said as they walked into their room, closing the door behind them. Nick nodded and stretched himself, feeling the sleep slowly overcoming him. He threw himself onto his bed and made a relieved noise. "Yeah, me too", he mumbled and started untying his tie.

Jeff himself got out of his blazer and trouser and put on a short and a t-shirt. He had to smile when he saw Nick lying on his bed, desperately trying to get rid of the annoying tie. "Let me help you." Jeff walked over to him and sat down on Nick's bed. He quickly opened the tie and dropped it to the floor. "Can you manage the rest on your own?"

As an answer, Nick just mumbled something into his pillow. Jeff took it as a Yes and made his way back to his own bed. He layed down, covered himself up and switched off the lamp on his nightstand. "Good night, Nicky", he said and closed his eyes.

Nick didn't replie. He finally managed to get out of his blazer and his trouser, lazily letting them fall on the floor. He didn't mind sleeping in his t-shirt, but he mind something else.

Jeff winced as he felt a cold foot touching his leg. "Sorry", Nick said simply as he layed down beside his boyfriend. "Don't wanna sleep alone", he whispered quietly and put his head down on Jeff's chest. Showing that he was okay with it, Jeff wrapped his arm around Nick and moved closer to him.

A minute later they were asleep.

* * *

><p>"Hey, wake up."<p>

Nick opened his eyes, expecting Jeff to look and smile at him. But that wasn't the case. Once Nick realized that it wasn't Jeff who was talking to him, he sat up straight away and suppressed a scream.

"It's just me, Nick, calm down", Blaine said and laughed. Nick looked at the side of the bed where Jeff was lying before, but it was emtpy. "Already in the bathroom", Blaine explained and gestured towards the door.

Nick nodded, still sleepy. He stood up and walked over to his bed, not caring about the fact that he wore only a t-shirt and his boxer. "So, why are you here?"

"You know how excited we all get when we have new students?", Blaine asked and grinned. "Well today is the day."

Nick just shrugged and put his blazer on. "So, who is it then? Do we know him?" He turned his head around when Jeff walked out of the bathroom, his hair still wet from the shower. "No, not really. But Trent said that he had already heard of the older one", Blaine replied.

"The older one?" Nick frowned and lazily stroked through his hair. Some waterdrops fell to the floor when Jeff nodded, messing up his hair. "Yeah, two brothers. What was their name again, Blaine?"

"Smith, I think." He nervously ran his hand through his hair. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to join me."

"Join you at what?"

"At welcoming them of course. You know that I want everyone to feel welcome here, so I'd like to introduce myself. I hope that-"

"That at least one of them is gay so you have a chance on finding a boyfriend!" Nick raised his hand to give Jeff a highfive. He did so with laughter. "Booya!"

"Haha, very funny." Blaine didn't laugh, but he cocked his head in request. "But seriously guys, I'd _really_ appreciate it!"

"Let's do him this favor, Nick", Jeff said, slightly unconcerned about it. "At least we're already awake-"

"Thank you!" Blaine didn't wait for Nick's answer, he just started smiling. "They are probably still in the hall, so let's go there first." He made his way to the door and opened it. Nick and Jeff followed him, sharing a look which appeared to mean "He is up to something...".

"Blaine, is there something you want to tell us?", Nick asked, grabbing Jeff's hand as he walked next to him. He turned his head around and smiled lovingly at him. He definitely could get used to this.

As if he was caught, Blaine swallowed and stopped. "You really didn't hear the rumor?"

"Which rumor?"

"That the older one of them is _actually_ gay and _extraordinary_ goodlooking...", he explained and blushed immediately.

"Aww, Blaine!" Both Nick and Jeff walked up beside him and put one hand on his shoulder. It seems like they were on their way to become one of _those_ couples who always give advice and hope for others. "You're gonna find the right person, you just have to wait. Don't act like you're gonna be alone for your whole life, cause you won't. Every single guy would be lucky to have you, and someday you're gonna meet him and then you can-"

Nick was interrupted by a group of students walking towards them. It was Thad, Jim, Trent and two unknown boys. Blaine's heart sped up right away, looking at the two boys, who he assumed must be the brothers.

"Hello Nick, Jeff", Trent said happily and smiled at them, bringing back memories of the last night. "Blaine", he added slowly and noticed that the boy was blushing.

"Guys, these are the Smythe brothers who had just transferred here. We are on our way to the common room, want to join us?", Thad asked and passed them, not really caring about their answers. But the three boys followed him, Trent, Jim and the brothers.

"So, here's the common room. We're here most of the time", Thad explained as they entered the room. Wes and David sat on the couch, obviously talking about future Warbler performances. They soon stopped talking and stood up. "Hello, boys, welcome at Dalton", Wes said and smiled.

Only then Nick and Jeff were able to look at the new students. Even though they were brothers, they didn't look the same in any way. One of them – most likely the older one – was tall and slim. His brown hair was gelled up and he had a big grin on his face, obviously happy about his new school. The other one was probably just 2 inches taller than Blaine, his hair a shade lighter and longer, loose strands were hanging in his face, covering most of his forehead. They both already wore their Dalton uniform.

"This is Wes, and this is David. They both are the head of the Warblers, such as me." Thad smiled, feeling slightly proud at saying this.

"The Warblers?", asked the taller one. His voice sounded deeper than Blaine expected.

Wes nodded. "That's our glee club, we just call us The Warblers."

"Oh, I see."

"Wanna sit down? Then we can chat for a while", David suggested and pointed to the couches. Nick, Jeff, Blaine, Thad and Jim sat down on the one and Trent, Wes, David and the brothers on the other.

"We still don't know your names", David realized.

"I'm Sebastian", answered the taller one with a calm voice, smiling and raising his eyebrows as if he was a bit disappointed that they didn't already know his name. Blaine noticed that his eyes were blue but had a light brown ring in the middle. He was so distracted that he didn't notice that Sebastian was watching him, smirking.

"I'm Cole", said the other boy and smiled awkwardly, he was kinda nervous. Perhaps the fact that everyone was looking at him now was having an adverse effect on his confidence. Jeff automatically felt sympathy for him, not being that self-confident himself. So he put on his friendliest smile to cheer the new boy up.

"But you are no twins, right?", Trent asked and eyed them suspiciously. Something was bothering him about them – especially about Sebastian, who was again looking at Blaine.

"No, I'm almost a year younger than Sebastian", Cole clarified and coughed slightly. Unsure of what to do with his hands, he interlaced his fingers and bit his lip. No doubt he felt uncomfortable.

"So, what are your names then? You didn't introduce yourself either." Sebastian's voice was very low. Unlike his brother, he was very comfortable and had put his feet on the small table in front of him. Wes darted a disapproving glance at him, folding his arms. He didn't really like the boy so far either.

"Nick", Nick said and turned his head to his boyfriend, thinking that he had to introduce him. "And this is Jeff." Jeff smiled approvingly. That's when Cole started to smile for the first time. He had the ability to _see_ if someone is like him, and that was the case when he looked at Jeff.

"I'm Blaine", Blaine said and raised his hand a little bit. His heart was beating, he didn't know why. Every time he looked at Sebastian and Cole he couldn't help but smile.

"Blaine." Sebastian said his name as if it was a bonbon in his mouth. Blaine blushed when he noticed that Sebastian looked directly at him. "I think I've heard of you. You seem to be a highly gifted singer." The way he smiled and furrowed his brows made Blaine blush even more.

"I-I'm not _that _good." Even though he tried to stay calm, Blaine stuttered and avoided every eye contact. He already knew that Sebastian was hitting on him. And Jim noticed that, too. That's why he was nudging Thad with his elbow, but the boy didn't react. Jim rolled his eyes and looked at the boy next to him. Thad was _staring_ at Sebastian, obviously not knowing that it looked very suspicious. So Jim nudged him stronger, waking him up from a daydream. Thad blinked and coughed slightly, realizing what he just did.

"Oh yes, you _are_, Blaine", he said quickly. "You're our leader."

"I-I'm _not_", Blaine answered, shaking his head.

"According to what I've heard you are one hell of a singer, _Blaine_." Sebastian said his name seductively this time, and smirked. "Wouldn't mind YOU giving me a private performance in my room later."

Blaine's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe how direct and cocky Sebastian was. Startled he had to realize that he was a bit turned on by Sebastian's voice, words and smirks. It was the first time someone said something like this directly at him – and the fact that Sebastian was very goodlooking didn't help it and confused him even more.

"Come on, Sebastian, you said you wouldn't do this anymore!" Cole frowned, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Don't act so surprised, you know me", Sebastian replied with a look of satisfaction on his face before turning to Blaine again. "If a guy is hot, I go for it. So, interested?"

"Umm..." Blaine cleared his throat, he had never felt so uncomfortable and excited at the same time before. "No, I will just...go." Saying this, he stood up and walked out of the room.

Nick and Jeff shared a critical look. Although Blaine was right by saying that one of the brothers was gay – Sebastian was very obvious there -, he seemed to be disappointed that Sebastian was so outrageous. He probably thought that he would be forever alone because he couldn't find his _soulmate_.

"We don't approve this kind of behaviour here, Sebastian", Wes made clear, standing up to demonstrate his _power_. David followed him. "So if you could limit your flirting to a minimum we would be very pleased", he added with harshness in his voice.

"Can't promise that", Sebastian replied and raised his hands inoccently.

"At least _try _to", Cole said and stood up, visibly ashamed of his brother. "Mind if I leave?", he asked the others and left the room as they didn't mind. Nick shot a quick glance at Jeff, having the same idea as his boyfriend. They stood up and left the room without saying a word.

An awkward silence followed, only Sebastian, Trent, Thad and Jim were left on the couches. "So, Sebastian, what do you like to do in your free time?", Trent asked, desperately trying to be kind and to have a conversation. Sebastian turned around to him. He didn't answer, he just grinned. Then his gaze wandered to Thad, to his feet at first and then to his face. "Thad, right?"

Thad just nodded. He couldn't say anything because he would probably just talk nonsense since his heart acted differently. And that bothered him.

"Hold up, Cole", Nick said as he ran to the boy, Jeff by his side. Cole turned around and started to smile immediately. Jeff was looking and _smiling_ at him. Shivers ran down Cole's spine. _Damn it!_ He intended NOT to fall in love here, because it would end up in a disaster like the time before. But he couldn't deny the fact that Jeff was extremely goodlooking and apparently charming.

"Since you don't appear to be as unfriendly as your brother, we thought that you could need some friends here!" Nick put his hand on Cole's shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"You're too kind", Cole replied. "I just wanted to go to my room and unpack my stuff."

"We could join you, if you want!"

"And then you can tell us more about you." The fact that Jeff wanted to know more things about him made Cole blush.

"That would be great." Cole went to his room with Nick and Jeff beside him. He opened the door, revealing that he had a single room.

"You don't share a room with your brother?"

"God no!" Cole closed the door as Nick and Jeff had entered the room, sitting down on two chairs. "That guy drives me crazy!"

"I totally understand", Jeff agreed and nodded. "His behaviour is very inappropriate, to say it nicely."

"Tell me about it! To be honest, he wasn't always like that, it just started about 3 or 4 years ago when he reached puberty."

Nick started to laugh, remembering the time when he reached puberty. "Well, we can't be angry with him then. All these hormones and changes, he probably just handled it differently than others."

"_Differently_, indeed!" Cole opened the cupboard and put some of his clothes in it. "You know, since I'm the younger brother he used to keep an eye on me. Either he was just rebelling or wanting to be more independent, but he distanced himself and went to all these clubs."

"That's not unusual", Jeff said. "Although I've never really been the disco or club kind of guy, I think there's nothing wrong with it."

"Really? But you don't know my brother." Cole put his unpacked bag under his bed and sat down on it. "From time to time he took his dates home, and I'm not speaking of _girls_..."

Nick looked alarmingly at Jeff. His boyfriend had blushed and put his hands in his lap. "But that's okay, isn't it? I mean, he was probably just enjoying his time."

"Yeah, I know, and I'm totally fine that he is into guys, being it myself." Cole looked down at his hands. He decided to be totally honest with the two boys since they were really nice to him.

"We know that feel, Cole", Nick said and couldn't help but smirk. He had to fight the urge to grab Jeff's hand.

Cole laughed. "Seriously?" He looked at them and smiled warmingly. "That's..._great_! I was convinced that this school is...well..."

"You would be surprised if you know", Nick said, immediately thinking of Blaine. That's when he got an idea. "Mind if I go for Blaine?" Cole shook his head. Nick smiled and bent himself to Jeff, whispering him his idea into the ear. Jeff nodded and smiled, too. Then Nick left.

For a while the two boys just sat there, not knowing what to say. Cole tried to look at Jeff without him noticing it. If he felt the same feeling, too? He wanted to find out. "So, Jeff was it, right?"

"Yes."

"Did you ever, you know, have a boyfriend?" He blushed a little bit and was glad that it was dark enough in the room for Jeff not to notice.

Jeff didn't know what to answer and shifted uncomfortable. "I-I don't...why do you want to know?"

"Just curious." Cole bit his lip. "Since you are very handsome and nice as well, I thought that there were like thousands of boys standing at your door..." That's not exactly what he wanted to say, but he had said it before he could think about it.

"Well, thank you", Jeff said, laughing nervously. "But you're not bad-looking either." He smiled at Cole, knowing that he probably sent ambiguous signals the other boy might get wrong. Clearly the only way to get things straight was to tell him the truth – he didn't want to awake hope. "Cole, I'm sorry, but I'm not-"

"Look who I found!" Nick opened the door, pushing a confused looking Blaine into the room. He immediately noticed the tension between his boyfriend and the new student and his heart began to race. He wondered what they were talking about and decidet to ask Jeff later when they were alone.

"Hey, Cole!" Blaine said, sitting down on the other side of the bed. "You're not so stupid like your brother, right?" He didn't mean to say it but he couldn't stop thinking about Sebastian and the strange feeling in his stomach.

Cole simply shrugged. "Guess not." He frowned and looked at Blaine. He could see that Blaine really cared about his look and appearance, always trying to look dapper.

"Good, cause your brother drives me crazy, even though I only know him for five minutes", Blaine explained, sighing. "He is really confident with himself, isn't he?"

"You have no idea!" Cole widened his eyes and made a meaningful gesture. "I have to apologize for him though, he truly has no idea how to talk _normal_!" The way he said it made clear that he was angry. "But you get used to it..."

"He accepts no rejection, right?" Blaine was desperate. "The way he looked at me...I-I don't know how to handle that. I mean, he is goodlooking, I'm not denying _that_, but it's so odd!"

"If you want, I can try and talk to him about that, but he probably won't listen to me, he never does."

"I would love you for even _trying_ it!" Blaine was really desperate and didn't notice that Cole winced as he said it. He still didn't know that Sebastian wasn't the only new guy interested in boys...

Nick cleared his throat and put his hand on Jeff's shoulder. "Alright, guys, Jeff and I have to go now." He mumbled something inaudible and stood up.

"Seriously? It's Saturday!", Blaine complained, wanting to have a day to relax.

"Well, you can stay here, you don't have to do anything", Jeff suggested, standing up and following Nick to the door.

"I will!" Blaine nodded and looked at Cole, expecting an answer. "Stay as long as you want, I'm happy about company!", Cole replied.

"Great!" Nick opened the door. "I'm looking forward to talking to you again, you're a nice guy."

"And welcome at Dalton!", added Jeff and smiled at him, causing Cole to smirk unintentionally. Blaine noticed that, drawing conclusions. He smiled when he finally understood what was going on. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Cole, but Jeff is already taken." Cole froze and his face turned red.

Nick and Jeff made their way to their dorm. "So, what were you talking about when I was away? You seemed caught when I returned." In his voice was a hint of jealousy.

Jeff had to smirk. "What do you think we did?"

"I asked you something."

"Nicky, are you _jealous_?" Now Jeff couldn't suppress it any longer and laughed out loud.

Obviously embarassed, Nick bit on his lip and nodded. "Guess that's what it feels like, so _yes_, I am jealous."

Jeff pinched him in the cheek. "You're very cute when you're jealous."

Nick pushed his hand away, not amused. "I'm serious, Jeff, what would you do when you know that someone's flirting with your boyfriend? On top of that an extremely goodlooking, young guy..."

"Shhh." Jeff had grabbed Nick's shoulders and turned him around so that he was facing him. "Nicky." He lowered his head and intertwined their fingers. "There is absolutely no reason for you to be jealous."

"You like the attention you get, don't you?" He nudged him. "Alright, but please don't do something like that again. Cause if you do, then I go straight to Sebastian and flirt with him like I never did before, and you will just stand there, unable to do anythi-"

"Nicky, stop it!" Jeff squeezed his hand gently and smiled. "I won't, and I never will, I promise." Nick eyed him suspiciously and raised one eyebrow. "Thank you", he simply said. "Anyways, I've just two more questions."

"Yeah?"

"What do you think of Cole?"

"NICK! I _just_ told you that I'm NOT interested in him!"

"No, no, don't mean it that way. I just want to know what you think of him."

Jeff shrugged. "Well, he seems to be a nice guy, is goodlooking, charming, friendly. And honest!" Nick nodded. "Good, I agree with you there. So, second question: Do you think he would be the right guy for Blaine?"

"Aaah!" Jeff finally understood and grinned. "I see what you're up to."

"Yeah, I think Blaine could need the special someone in his life, and I suppose it's NOT Sebastian." Jeff nodded in agreement. "Definitely not. But yes, I think that we can work on it." Nick smiled at him and moved closer to kiss him...

"Ah, here you are, very good!" Thad ran into the room without any hesitation. He slammed the door and sat down on a bed, not caring that he was obviously disturbing them. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." Nick looked at Jeff, disappointed that he wasn't able to kiss his boyfriend.

"THANK YOU!" Thad sighed and took a deep breath. "I think you already know that Sebastian is, you know, like you, gay and stuff, and that he was hitting on Blaine is really obvious."

"Soooo?"

* * *

><p>Buahahahah :P Good ending, don't you think? :D<p>

I love Cole :') What do you think of him? Right one for Blaine? ;)


	8. Nick's parents I

Chapter 8: Nick's parents I

Nick and Jeff placed themselves in front of Thad, who was still thinking of an answer. "I – I don't really know what to think of him..." he said after a while.

"We don't neither!" Nick answered and pointed at himself and Jeff. "But from what he has said so for, he seems to be..._extraordinary_," Jeff added and frowned. Thad simply sighed. "Yeah I know, but..." He replied and took a deep breath, deciding between telling them or just keeping silent. "Can I be totally honest with you guys?"

Nick and Jeff nodded simultaneously. "Of course!"

"I'm slightly impressed by him–"

"What?" Jeff had opened his eyes wide and gaped. "Are you serious, Thad?" Nick shook his head to show him his disapproval.

"Yeah, I _am_! I don't really know _why_ I am, but all I know is that... whenever I looked at him and noticed that he was looking at _me_, I had this strange feeling." Thad pointed at his body to explain that it was either his heart or his stomach. "It was as if...I don't know!" He raised his hands in despair.

Jeff turned his head around to look at Nick, and raised an eyebrow. They were obviously sharing a look which appeared to mean "uh-oh, we know where this could end". There was only one way to get to know the truth...

"Thad, are you...did you possibly have the same feeling when you," Nick paused before he went on and lowered his voice a bit, "kissed Jim yesterday?" He wondered what the response would be. And he didn't have to wait long.

"Oh my god," Thad whispered and mouthed. He started to draw conclusions. You could see that his brain was starting to work.

"Thad, I know what it feels like to be in this kind of situation, and believe me, there's nothing wrong with it," Jeff told him, trying to make it easier for Thad. He looked at Thad and noticed that he wasn't moving at all. "Thad? Everything alright?"

Before Jeff could go to him, Thad jumped up and made his way out of the room, avoiding eye contact. No sooner did he close the door than Nick and Jeff heard him curse and running to his room. "You know, I saw that coming actually," Nick said and nodded, earning an approving nod from Jeff. "Yeah, me t-"

He was interrupted by _Uptown Girl_. It was Nick's cell phone, which was lying on his bed, flashing. Nick looked at the display and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "It's my mom," he explained before answering. "Hey mom!" Jeff sat down on his bed, smiling at the look of Nick who was suddenly grinning broadly. He was slightly envious of his boyfriend about his relationship with his mother.

Nick was walking up and down the room, listening to his mother. "Oh, alright," he said after a while and nodded as if his mother could see it. "I understand." Jeff was as curious as you can be when someone is on the phone with someone. What were they talking about? "Okay. ...yes, alright." He hesitated a bit before he asked, "Can Jeff come along?", making Jeff to raise his head in surprise. _They are talking about me! What's going on?_

"Yeah, 'til later then!" He hung up with a smile playing around his lips. "I hope you don't mind," he said when he put his cell phone back on the desk. "What?" Jeff asked and stood up. "My mom asked if we would like to come around in the afternoon since she hasn't seen me for a while now," Nick explained. "Want to eat some delicious cake?" He grinned broadly and hoped that Jeff's answer would be a Yes.

"Of course! How could I say No to such an offer?" Jeff replied and smiled. "So, when are we going?" Nick looked at his watch. "It's almost lunchtime, so I would suggest soon? We have to arrange at least one hour for the drive, so we would have enough time left there."

"Sounds good to me," Jeff said and couldn't help but think of the certain thought that had caused him sleepless nights.

"I know what you're thinking of," Nick said all of a sudden, as if he was reading Jeff's mind. "And my answer is a Yes."

Jeff frowned. "You think so?" He didn't feel so comfortable.

"Absolutely!" Nick looked at Jeff and put on a reassuring and encouraging smile. "Jeff, I know that you're kinda afraid, but you don't have to be."

"Is it really _necessary_?" Jeff grizzled like a child and contorted his face. There was nothing for Nick but to go over to him and grab his hands. "Jeffy," he sighed and squeezed Jeff's hands, "I really care about you and I want them to know that you're my boyfrie-"

"But what if they don't like me?"

Nick laughed. "Don't act like you don't know them, because you _do_! And they know you – for about 8 years now to be exact-, and my mom told me several times that she was so happy that I could call you my best friend." A huge grin was on his face. "I kinda hope that she cries or dances with joy when she knows that you're actually my _boyfriend_!" he added and laughed at the thought.

That made Jeff smile. "See?" Nick whispered and squeezed his hands again. "Deep inside you, you know that you want to show off with me, even if it's just my parents!" Jeff raised his head and looked into Nick's eyes. "Okay then, you win. Let's tell them," he said. Nick was happy about his response and leaned forward to kiss him. It was meant as both an encouragement and a reward, and Jeff definitely could get used to this.

* * *

><p>Almost one hour later, they were sitting in the bus on their way to Nick's home. "I have to text my mom so that she can pick us up at the bus stop in five minutes," Nick said and grabbed his cell phone. Jeff nodded and looked out of the window, trying to follow the rushing trees and houses with his eyes.<p>

A few minutes later they were standing at the bus stop, waiting for Nick's mother. Soon they saw a speeding car racing around the corner, stopping right in front of them. The window was opened and Nick's mother smiled at them. Her name was Sophie and she belongs to the persons who are always cheerful. "Hello boys! Get in, your dad's already waiting!" she said. Nick got in the front and Jeff sat in the back behind the passengers seat. Seconds later, Nick's mother stepped on the gas and drove off.

"It's great to see you two," she said after a while, turning down the volume of the radio. "You too," Nick answered and smiled when she turned around to pinch his cheek. "MOM!" Nick yelled and pushed her hand away, making her laugh. "Don't blame me, I've missed you!" she said apologetic and looked at the street. Jeff sat silently in the back and smiled. He had always liked Sophie, cause she was always friendly and knew what to say in every situation.

"And you, Jeff, how are you?" She glanced into the rearview mirror and smiled at him. "Very good actually," Jeff replied and noticed that a smile played around Nick's lips when he looked at him. He had the feeling that everything would go well that Saturday. "That's great," Sophie said and slowed the car down, turning off into the driveway of her house. When she stopped and got out of the car, Nick turned around to look at Jeff. "We're gonna do this, right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Jeff nodded approvingly and smiled. Then they followed Sophie into the house.

"William? We're back!" Sophie yelled as she opened the door and stepped into the hall, throwing the keys on a cupboard. Nick closed the door behind Jeff and hang his and his own jacket up. They heard steps from the next room and seconds later Nick's father stood in the doorframe. "Hello, Nick!" he said and opened his arms, walking towards his son and hugging him. "Good to see you again," he said and grabbed him by his shoulders. Then he turned his head and looked at Jeff, who was standing next to the stairs, unsure of what to do. "And Jeff," William added and went over to him, grabbed his shoulders as well and smiled at him just like he was his second son. "Great to see you too," Jeff answered quickly and tried to put on a friendly smile because he wanted to show that he liked being with Nick's parents and that he appreciated it that he was always welcome.

"I've baked a cake," Sophie said and clapped into her hands, squealing with delight. She had always loved to bake and cook, and she loved it even more when she saw that others liked it. So she shoved everyone into the living room to the laid table. "Tadaa!" she sang and smiled at the sight of her glorious cake. It looked absolutely fantastic! "Sit down already!" she ordered.

Nick sat down and Jeff quickly sat down at the chair next to him. He wanted him as close as possible beside him for the next few minutes. Nick knew that Jeff felt uncomfortable and he feared that his behaviour would make his parents suspicious. Sophie gave everyone a piece of the cake and sat down next to her husband. He had already started to eat and made enjoying noises. "Mhm, delicious!" he said and closed his eyes. Sophie opened her eyes in shock. "You can't wait, can you?" She shook her head in disbelief, but she smiled at her husband. "Alright, I just wanted to say that it's great to have the family complete after a long time now. Since Nick is at Dalton, we didn't do something like this that often, and I think we should change that. One visit a month would do."

His mother winked at Nick and he laughed. "Mom, you know that you can call me anytime. It's not like I have the time or want to visit you every weekend!" He earned a shocked glance from his mother. "Sorry mom, but I like being at Dalton!" He turned his head around and smiled at Jeff, knowing that this had another meaning for him as for his parents.

"That's okay, honey, I just tried to tell you how much I missed you," she explained and slowly raised her glass. "So I hope that I see you more often – you too, Jeff," she added quickly. "Always nice to have you here with us. Well, we don't have an opportunity, since Nick doesn't go anywhere without you." Jeff started to turn red and noticed Nick's gaze on him. _Calm down, everything's alright!_, he told himself and raised his glass. Nick and William did the same and everyone took a sip. "_Now_ you can start," Sophie said, mainly to her husband.

He and the boys immediately grabbed their forks and started eating. Soon the room was filled with exclamations like "Very good!", "Mmmh..." and "Simply delicious, as always!", making Sophie smile with satisfaction. After everyone had eaten up, everyone took a second piece, also finishing it in a few minutes.

Jeff knew that the time came closer. He shot a glance at Nick, and he could tell by looking at the way his boyfriend ate that he was nervous and anxious. He would've loved to grab his hand and calm him down, but he obviously couldn't – not yet.

"Mom? Dad?" Nick asked finally as he put his fork down and layed it on the table. His parents looked at him, both had raised their eyebrows out of curiosity. "Yes, honey?" his mother asked and cleaned her mouth with the napkin. His father cleared his throat and cocked his head. "You look like you have bad news for us," he said confused. Jeff started to sink deeper into the chair, biting on his lip because he got more and more uncomfortable every second.

"I have to tell you something." Nick didn't look up, he just stared at his hands and tried to keep calm. His heart was beating fast. "In fact, it's not only about me..." His voice was shaking and he soon stopped. His parents didn't understand what he meant. No matter how hard he tried, Nick wasn't able to say anything further, so he looked at Jeff.

"What Nick is trying to say is that-" Jeff went on, seeing that Nick couldn't think straight. It was too much for him, and Jeff didn't expect that. Moreover he didn't think that he had the courage to talk, but apparently he _did_. "Nick and I are a couple," he said bluntly. As if Nick had known or felt that Jeff soon started to regret what he said because Nick's parents were staring at him as if he was an alien, he grabbed his hand and squeezed it slightly.

William had opened his eyes wide – whether in shock, surprise or something else, no one could tell. Sophie had gasped and covered her opened mouth with her hands. Jeff wanted to cry. Nick wanted to run. They were sitting like this for a good while, when finally Sophie cleared her throat and started to talk.

"Oh my god, that's awesome!" She nearly screamed. Anyhow, her eyes started to shine and she grinned broadly. Her husband soon started to smile too, making both Nick and Jeff sighing with relief. "I'm happy for you! _Both_ of you!" he said and stood up, walking around the table. But Sophie was faster, she had already wrapped her arms around Nick and Jeff and squealed with delight as she gave them a squeeze.

"Since when are you two together?" she asked curiously and couldn't decide between looking at her son or her son's boyfriend, so she ended up turning her head from one to the other in quick movements. "Oh my god, you are so cute together!"

"Well, I won't say _cute_, cause that would be...weird, but as far as I can tell I think that you make a _good_ couple," William said and smirked at the boys. "Welcome to our family, Jeff," he added and gently slapped the confused looking Jeff on the shoulder.

"We're not getting _married_, dad," Nick said and frowned at the words of his father. "We're...boyfriends."

"Oh my god, I would _love_ to plan your wedding!"

"MOM!" Nick yelled and swung around, giving her the evil eye. But after all he was happy about their reactions. And Jeff was it too, his face started to turn back to a normal color.

"Sorry honey, but you know how overly excited I can get," Nick's mother said apologetic. Nick nodded understandingly and wanted to get everything straight, so he just asked what was driving him nuts. "So you both are totally fine with this?" He couldn't believe it, even though he never expected that his parents would reject him.

"Absolutely!" his parents answered at the same time and started laughing when they noticed it.

"Wow, that's...wow," Nick mumbled and looked at Jeff. That's when he noticed that Jeff wasn't as relieved as he was. And he immediatley knew what Jeff thought of – _his_ parents. How would they react? Equally? Nick wanted to talk to Jeff in private, so he stood up. "Would you mind us going upstairs?" he asked and his parents simply shook their heads, smiling. So Jeff stood up as well and followed his boyfriend upstairs.

They went into Nick's room and Nick sat down on his bed, waiting for Jeff to join him. But Jeff walked up and down the room, his hands in his pockets. "Can you sit down please?" Nick asked and sighed when Jeff shook his head. "Look, Jeff, I _know_ that you are glad that my parents accept us..." He paused and made a gesture as if he was trying to catch the right words with his hands. "But what I can't understand is that you can't stop for a minute and just be happy. Even if it's just for the day, but I can't stand to see you in a sad mood."

Jeff had stopped walking and looked out of the window. It was starting to get dark outside. "I'm sorry, Nicky, but I feel like I'm about to explode or something. This is all too much for me, although everything turned out to be fine." He started walking again and Nick stood up and stopped him by grabbing his shoulders. "Please, Jeff, don't be so stubborn," he said with a low voice and looked Jeff into the eyes. He could see pain, happiness and a bit of hope in them. "I have to go to the bathroom," Jeff suddenly said, releasing himself out of Nick's hands. He made his way to the door and disappeared. He probably just wanted to have a few minutes for himself, so Nick didn't complain.

He just sat down on his bed again and let his gaze wander around his room as he was waiting for Jeff to return so they could talk. He heard a knock on the door and seconds later his mother put her head through the door crack, smiling at him. "Hey honey, can I come in?"

"Sure," Nick answered and patted on the space next to him. That's what they have often done: just sitting or lying on his bed and talking the whole night long. He had always loved these days and nights and he missed them.

His mother sat down next to him, knowing that her son wanted her to say something, just like the million times before. "I miss the times reading bed time stories," she said quietly at the sight of his nightstand where she used to put down the book. "You grew up so fast, and I can still see you running around in the garden, climbing on every tree you can find." She suddenly laughed. "And one time your dad had to help you because you got stuck up there and were about to cry." She laughed again at this memory, and her laugh awaked a warm feeling in Nick, one that he had missed over the last months.

"Aww mom, I missed you!" He said and leaned forward to hug her, pulling her even closer. There is no safer place on earth than in your mother's arms, that's what Nick knew at that moment.

"And I missed _you_," she replied, her voice was shaking. Nick pulled away and put on a loving smile to make her upcoming tears stop. "You know, Nicky," she said, making Nick to shiver at her words because Jeff used this name sometimes, "I'm really, really happy for you, you can't imagine!" Nick wanted to thank her but her mother didn't give him time to speak. "To be honest, I've always known – and _hoped_ - that this day would come."

Nick cocked his head and frowned. "You've known-"

"That one day you would arrive home and bring your boyfriend with you!"

"My _boyfriend_? No, mom, how could you even-"

"Because I'm your _mother_, honey! And a mother always has this special connection to her son, right? And we have a _magical_ one, you should know that! And I for one would be quite disappointed if my mom wouldn't know the best part of me," she explained.

Nick just shook his head in confusion, his eyes still half-closed. "So, you're trying to tell me that you always _knew_ that I'm gay? D-did dad know it too?"

"I don't think so." She shook her head. "But he's proud of you," she added as she noticed that her son looked sad. "He tells me all the time. It's starting to get annoying!" She laughed out loud, relieving some of the tension that was suddenly in the room. "But seriously, we both are so proud of you! We feel like – well, I have the feeling that Dalton is the place where you belong and that you Warblers are like a huge family. ...excuse me, _why_ do you need dad and me anyway?"

Nick nudged her and smiled. His mom was simply the best!

"And with Jeff you have a great, brave and and probably the most caring person in your world, just like you deserve it." She pinched his cheek and laughed when he pushed her hand away, laughing as well.

"Since I know Jeff for several years now, I know that he makes you happy, he _always_ had this positive effect on you when you were younger. As soon as he was around you, nothing could make the smile on your face disappear." His mother took a deep breath to hold back the tears.

Nick noticed that his mom was about to cry, so he grabbed her hands. "Oh my god, mom, stop it, otherwise I'm going to cry," he said and his voice sounded lower than usual.

"It's just-" she gasped, now her eyes were starting to get watery. "It's just that I'm so happy, I've never been so happy before in my life. Except for the day I married your dad, or the day you were born, or the day you said _mom_ for the first time, or the day you performed your first song in the living room – actually, it seems like I've been so happy before, and that's all because of you, honey." She sighed and blinked, looking Nick into the eyes. "I'm happy when you're happy, simple as that. So don't you dare to ever leave Jeff, cause I like being happy." With the mixture of pure happiness and also sentimentality on her face, Nick had never seen her so beautiful before.

"You have no idea how glad I am to have parents like you and dad." His mother smiled at these words and that's when the first tear started running down her cheek. Nick wiped it away and squeezed her hand. "Thank you," he added, his voice merely a whisper.

"Thank _you,_" she replied, stroking his hair. Then she heard a noise from outside and smiled. "Alright, honey, I'll leave you two alone now," she said as she walked towards the door. When Nick looked at her in confusion, she just opened the door, revealing Jeff standing in front of it. And instead of saying all or only one of the the thousand things she had in her mind ("You're so cute", "Thank you for being there for Nick" or a simple "I love your hair by the way"), she just smiled at him in a way that made everything unnecessary to say.

After she had walked outside the room, she closed the door behind Jeff, giving them the opportunity to talk in private. Nick still sat on his bed, and Jeff soon joined him, sitting down in front if him, just where Nick's mother had sat. "I think I love your mom," he laughed and earned a punch from Nick against his shoulder. "I hope _not,_" Nick replied and smiled.

"No seriously, she's great. You should consider yourself lucky to have a mother like this!"

"Oh trust me, I am!" Nick replied and laughed. Then he grabbed Jeff's hands. "I know that your parents will accept us too, honey." Jeff smiled at that word. _Honey_, he thought for a second and noticed that Nick said it with as much love as his mother always did when she called Nick honey. So the way of saying nicknames to show love for a certain person obviously ran in the family.

"I hope so," Jeff replied, his voice just a whisper. And when Nick smiled at him, the thought of his parents vanished, turned into thin air. He leaned forward and captured Nick's lips with his own.

And he could swear that he heard a unique squeal of delight from behind the door a second later.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> That's one of the scenes I've been wanting to write since I had the idea of this story! :) So I hope you liked it!

And if you did, tell me if you would like to read more of Nick's parents, so I can make you happy by writing more about them :) I could make them spend the night there, or they can jut return to Dalton, so tell me what you prefer :)

Thank you for reading!


	9. Nick's parents II

Chapter 9: Nick's parents II

They spent the next minutes just lying on Nick's bed and staring at the ceiling. It was 6 in the afternoon and the sun went down slowly, making the sky shine in pink, red and orange. "Your bed is pretty comfy," Jeff said and started bouncing up and down with his whole body. Nick laughed, moving up and down on his own. "Can't wait to get to sleep then, I'm still so tired from yesterday," he explained and yawned to underline his words.

Nick reached over to ruffle up Jeff's blonde hair. "Hey, don't! You know how long it takes me to get them this way!" Jeff said indignantly as he adjusted his hair again. But he had a smile on his face when he did it, and Nick just sat up and looked at the watch. "My mom said dinner would be ready at 6, so we should go downstairs."

"I'm still full from the cake," Jeff protested, taking a quick look in the mirror to make sure that his hair looked fine. "That doesn't bother mom, she will make you eat something anyway!" Nick smiled and walked to the door, opened it and waited for Jeff. "Okay then," Jeff replied and followed him.

They went down the stairs, passing some photo of Nick when he was younger. "How come I've never seen those before?" Jeff asked as he had stopped in front of a baby-Nick photo. "Because my mom hang them up a few weeks before? They used to stand on a cupboard in the living room but she decided to hang them up here," Nick explained and waited at the last step for Jeff.

"Boooys, dinner's ready!" Sophie shouted as she stepped into the hall. She smiled when she saw Nick and Jeff already on the stairs. "Hungry?" She furrowed one brow and took off her apron, folding it. Jeff nodded which made Nick smile. "We're starving," he said and wriggled his eyebrows into Jeff's direction, earning an evil glance from him. "Come on then, dinner's already on the table!" Sophie said and walked into the living room.

William stood in front of the door and when he spotted Nick he immediately went to him. "Um, Nick?" His voice was very low and he looked around to make sure that Jeff didn't hear him. "Can I – can I talk to you for a second?" The way he said it and the way he nervously tapped with his foot on the ground made Nick realize that his father was really uncomfortable.

"Of course," Nick answered and was everything but surprised when his father gently shoved him into another room. Jeff turned around and went into the living room to sit down at the table after Nick had raised one finger to show that it would be only a minute. "You don't have to do it now, honey!", Sophie shouted in the living room, sitting down next to Jeff. "Just one minute!" was the response of her husband.

* * *

><p>"What is it?" Nick asked and frowned, confused about his father's behaviour. William bit on his lip and played with the ring on his finger. Nick had never seen him <em>this<em> nervous and uncomfortable before, except for that one day when...

"Oh no, dad, please don't," Nick groaned and made a refusing gesture with his hands. If his father wanted to say what he thought he wanted, then this was going to get really awkward for both of them in the next couple of seconds.

"That's what I have to do, I'm your _father_!" William explained but didn't look happy about it. He sat down on an arm chair and slightly shook his head as if he too couldn't believe that he did this. "So, wanna sit down?" he asked and pointed at another arm chair in front of him, his hand shaking. Nick shook his head and just stayed at the door. "Okay then..." His father coughed slightly. "I've just talked with your mother about this, and we came to the conclusion that..." He lowered his voice and stopped and a sigh left his mouth. "Well, Nick, I know that this is as embarassing for you as nothing else, and for me as well of course, so I just try to make it short."

Nick slowly opened his eyes in shock. _Oh no, you've gotta be kidding me!_, he thought, and something in his mind told him that he should turn around, open the door and run away. This was even worse than the first time his father had talked with him about _this_. But now it was quite different, and Nick just wanted to cover his ears. "Nick, I don't know many gay people, neither men nor women, so I don't know how different your _relations_ are-" He soon stopped as he noticed Nick's condemning gaze on him. "Sorry, that came out wrong, I don't say that the fact that you are _different_ is bad, it's quite the opposite! I just don't..." Again he ran out of words and took a deep breath. "Oh my god, I'm acting even worse than last time, am I?"

Nick nodded, his eyes still wide open. If he wanted to avoid the awkwardness for both of them, then _this_ was the time. "Dad, you don't have to tell me _anything_ of what you are about to tell me, please," he said and sat down on the arm chair. "I mean, I really appreciate it that you care so much about me, but, you know, school and friends are good teachers too in this department, so...you don't have to worry." He furrowed his brows and made an attempt to smile at his father.

William obviously was more than happy about this. "Thank you," he said and sighed with relief. "I didn't even really want to talk to you again, cause... I know you're not stupid and take care of yourself all the time, but you have no idea how worried your mother is. She wouldn't stop telling me how happy and worried she is at the same time and that she wouldn't calm down until I talked to you about _this_." Nick couldn't help but smile. The thought that his mother would also be worried about him after he told them had crossed his mind. And since his mother was a person who anyway had _too much_ feelings - which wasn't necessarily a bad thing – he knew that she could get kind of overly excited.

"Just tell her that everything's alright, she doesn't have to worry about _anything_," Nick said after a while and stood up. He wanted to walk to the door and go to Jeff and his mother into the living room to eat dinner, but his father stopped him for one last time. "Nick, I just want you to know that your mom and I, we are really proud of you," he said as he stood up and followed Nick, who rolled his eyes. "I know, mom told me earlier." William smiled. "Better to hear it more than once than never, right?" He winked and pushed him out of the room. "And now go to Jeff!" Sometimes his father was just like his mother, and this was one of the times.

Still with a huge grin on his face, Nick entered the living room and sat down next to Jeff. He immediately noticed that Jeff's face had a red shade, and that his mother was talking without interruption. She only stopped when Nick threw a disapproving glance at her. "Mom?" he asked with a hint of anger in his voice. His mother pressed her lips together and slowly made her way out of the living room to get something from the kitchen. Nick took the opportunity and turned around to face Jeff. "What happened?"

* * *

><p>Jeff sat at the table in the living room and waited to smile at Nick as soon as he would walk through the door. He didn't want to act like he normally did, because the presence of Sophie made him still kind of uncomfortable. So he looked down at his empty plate and took a sip from his glass of water.<p>

"Can I ask you a question?" Sophie suddenly asked and cocked her head. Jeff put his glass down and nodded. "I assume that you two have already kissed," she went on and Jeff immediately blushed. This was the case of a situation where you just wished the ground would open and swallow you up. "How was it? I mean..." Sophie made wild gestures with her hands, trying to show Jeff what she wanted to say. "I'm just a typical mother who wants to know everything about her son, but I'm pretty sure that Nick would ignore me if I asked him that. He always got silent when I tried to ask him about feelings he had for other persons. So I figured I should ask _you_."

Jeff sat on the chair as if he was frozen, trying to avoid any movement. _This is awkward!_, he thought and nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, we were in our room at Dalton..." _What?_ He didn't even know why he actually said it! But as soon as he looked Sophie into her sparkling eyes it hit him. Ever since he was a young boy he had envied Nick about his mother, because she was one of the most passionate and caring persons in the world. And every time she talked to him and looked him in the eyes, he saw so much joy and honesty, just like in that very moment. He had never seen this warmth in his own mother's eyes, and that's one of the things he was sad about. Finally someone talked to him who _really_ wanted to know things about his life, and he enjoyed it, so he went on when Sophie nodded to hear more.

"We were just sitting around, I on my bed and he on his bed. At that time I already knew how I felt about him, I had confessed it to myself days before and-" he stopped as the memory of this day flashed in his mind. "It was one of those days we just talked endlessly, about _everything_." Jeff gazed into space and a small grin appeared on his face. "He didn't know that I was staring at him all the time, thinking to myself how beautiful and adorable he looked."

"Aww," Sophie squealed and raised her shoulders as she grinned broadly. "And then you just- went over and kissed him?" Jeff smiled and nodded. "Yes, that's basically what I did. I just couldn't resist any longe-"

"That's like a movie!" Sophie interrupted him and laughed. "You know, I used to watch every romantic comedie movie with him when he was younger, and one night he told me that he wanted his first kiss to be one without any words."

Jeff laughed out loud, because he indeed didn't say a word before their kiss. "I didn't know he watched these movies-"

"Oh he did, trust me! Every single one of them!" Sophie had widened her eyes and then frowned. "In fact, the last times it was always him who wanted to watch them. I thought that he would get interested in movies with more action like Star Wars and so on since he was on his way to become a man, but he couldn't stop watching them!" She laughed again and it made Jeff's heart jump. "Did he never made you watch such a movie together?"

"Absolutely not," Jeff replied, shaking his head. "I know that he is romantic, _very_ romantic to be honest, but I didn't take him for the type of guy to watch such _girly_ movies."

"I know, right? That's why I'm wondering now why I didn't notice it earlier that he is gay." Sophie raised her hand and put it on Jeff's hand, what made him look at her in confusion. "I can get quite sentimental when I'm talking about this, and if Nick knew that I talk to you about this, he would probably kill me for doing this, but...I'm just so thankful for you, Jeff," she added and gently squeezed his hand.

Her words made Jeff blush again and the contact of their hands made him a bit nervous. That's why he was utterly relieved when Nick came into the room and sat down beside him. When Sophie had left the room, he faced Nick and lowered his voice. "Tell you later, okay?" he whispered. Nick just nodded.

* * *

><p>Sophie had made a casserole, and its scent of baked cheese filled the whole room. Jeff moaned when Sophie gave him a large portion, he knew that he wouldn't eat up. As soon as everyone had a portion on his plate, they started eating.<p>

After a good while Sophie broke the silence. "Jeff, do you even know the cutest thing about Nick yet?" she asked and cocked her head. Jeff looked at her, then at Nick and smiled. Of course he did, but Sophie probably meant something different. "You know, I think we have a dozen photoalbums filled with photos of our Nick when he was young," she mumbled, probably thinking about where she had put them. "They must be somewhere in our bedroom..."

"You should get them!" William said, obviously eager to show Jeff some photos. "The photos are great! The best ones are probably from his birthdays – he always wanted to have themed ones, I think you didn't know him at that time, Jeff, so you couldn't see the beauty of-"

"Dad!" Nick suddenly yelled. "I DON'T want Jeff to see those photos! And how the hell is that supposed to be _cute_?" He was turning in all shades of red as he thought about all the costumes he wore and all the stupid games he played.

"What, honey? I think you were a beautiful princess!" Sophie stated and laughed, already back with a huge photoalbum in her arms.

"Well, Sophie, he wasn't _really_ a princess," William corrected her. "It were his cousins who got him dressed up like one, but before that he was a normal prince."

"Thank you, dad!" Nick said relieved and sighed. "You always forget to say that, mom, like the first of many times you told grandma this oh-so-cute story!"

"Speaking of your grandmother! Jeff, do you know the _really_ cutest thing about your boyfriend?" Sophie asked, ignoring Nick's unbelieving look and his complaint ("Great, mom, now you're starting to talk about me in the third person, thank you!"). Jeff was obviously surprised by all the questions he was asked, not being used to this much attention by adults. "Tell me," he said curiously.

"The _cutest_ thing about Nick is that..." she said and paused, wanting to create tension. She looked around, her eyebrows raised in amusement. "Well, you can't blame older people for this, but there is no family celebration without one of your grandparents asking you what you want to do when you are older, right?" Everyone nodded, Jeff the most curious one, he couldn't really see yet what Sophie was up to. "And Nick always said similar things like _I want to be an adventurer, a singer, a pirate, a dentist _– for whatever reasons -_, an inventor _or_ a policeman_, something like this. And then comes the next question, doesn't matter what age you are: What about love? Is there someone you like?" She shrugged. "Is there? Who is this cute girl you were talking to yesterday, isn't she good for you?"

"Mom, get to the point already!" Nick complained, having a clue of what she meant.

"Yeah, wait wait!" Sophie answered and raised her hands. "Anyways, Nick did never answer this question, he just smiled and went away. But _one time_ – it was about 7 weeks after he met you, Jeff – he told my mother that he wanted to get married, without her even asking! She was very surprised and happy that her only grandchild told her, so she asked him if it was a girl from his school, but he just shook his head. _Oh, so she doesn't live around here?_, my mother asked, but Nick again shook his head. _No, he is in my class!_, he answered, and I still remember the look on her face when Nick said _he_. She was even more surprised, maybe shocked, I couldn't tell. But then she noticed that Nick stood there in front of her, apparently waiting for more questions, just like he was used to. So she asked him if it was a friend of his, and he nodded. _What's his name then?,_ she asked and smiled for the first time. Nick smiled back and nervously looked around, I think that he felt as if he did something wrong. But then he bended over to her and whispered her in the ear: _His name is Jeff and he is my_-"

"Best friend," Nick completed the sentence, and because he just mumbled it he might not have intended the others to hear it. His parents smiled at him, and Jeff just shook his head, grinning broadly. As soon as Nick noticed the gazes on himself, he blushed again and smiled. "I just remembered it, okay?"

Sophie's smile grew even bigger. "See? Isn't that the cutest thing ever? I found it to be very cute when he said that, and now that you two are actually boyfriends make it even cuter!" she said and finally opened the photoalbum. "AWW, LOOK AT THIS!" she immediately screamed and pointed at the first photo. It was Nick, probably 4 or 5 years old, smiling into the camera and wearing a cowboy hat. "AND THIS!" Nick was probably two years older by then and was climbing on a tree, waving to the camera. "Aww, I almost forgot this one!" And so it went on for a good couple of minutes.

Jeff looked at the photos with interest and smiled all the time. He had never seen photos of Nick when he was young before, and all he wanted to do was just crawling into every single photo and hug his adorable Nicky.

"Okay, I think that's enough now," Nick said, trying to grab the photoalbum, but his mother shook her head. "But the best ones are coming now!" she replied and turned the page, revealing the first photos of birthday parties. "Ah, that must be his seventh birthday, he was totally into space things and planets and all this stuff," she explained and pointed at a photo of Nick with a huge motorcycle helmet on and in a white overall. Jeff laughed out loud when he saw it, and Nick knew that he would never forget these photos.

"And this was his tenth birthday, and you were there, too, Jeff!" Sophie said and pointed at a photo in a corner. Nick was standing on a chair and William held a huge cake in front of his face and waited for him to blow out the ten candles. Next to Nick stood his friends, Jeff right on his left side, his eyes wide opened at the sight of the cake. "It was a beautiful day!" Sophie said. "I've always loved to plan his birthday parties. Sadly, he's through with those..." she added and pouted, but her eyes lighted up again as she turned the page around. "AH! There's the photo of him as a princess!" she squealed and handed the album over to Jeff who had again started laughing. Jeff looked at the photo and then at Nick, noticing the nasty look. He quickly gave Sophie the album back and smiled at Nick apologetically.

"Okay, I'll better put it away, I don't want Nick to burn all these beautiful photos..." she said and shot an evil glance at Nick when she grabbed the album and put it away. Then she sat down again. "Actually, talking about all these old photos..." she mumbled, and seconds later she was out of the room, running into the bedroom. She returned after a few minutes with a bunch of photos in her hands. "Here," she simply said as she handed them over to Nick and Jeff, smiling all the time.

Jeff took the first photo and looked at it. It was taken outside and the sun was shining. Two young boys were standing in someone's garden, the taller one of them with the arm around the other's shoulders. The taller boy had a little longer brown hair and a playful smile on his face. He wore a jeans and a blue t-shirt with a phrase on it, but you couldn't read it. The smaller boy had very bright blonde hair and wore a jeans with suspenders with car patches at the end and a colorful striped t-shirt. He smiled quite mischievously.

"You were sooo cute!" Sophie said and giggled. "And inseperable!" Nick looked at Jeff and smirked. He was happy that he had such a nice best friend for nearly his whole life. "You can keep it, if you want," Sophie said and nodded. "This is actually the first photo that was ever taken of you two together. I remember watching you playing in the yard and you were laughing and playing the whole day long, so I grabbed the camera and went outside."

"Thank you," Jeff said and waved with the photo. "We should frame it and hang it up in our room at Dalton." He laughed and then layed it beside his plate and started eating again, the others too.

Minutes later everyone sat in silence on his chair and waited to get up. The silence became awkward when nobody said something, so Sophie just cleared her throat and began to clear the table. "That was very delicious!" Jeff said and smiled at her, earning a thankful nod. "As always," William added and demonstratively patted his stomach. Then Nick and Jeff got up and left the room.

* * *

><p>Jeff walked up the stairs, suddenly feeling sad again and not paying any attention to the photos on the wall as he had before. Nick was concerned, he knew that Jeff had one of his melancholic and sentimental phases. When he opened the door to his room, Jeff was already lying on his bed, his face burried in a pillow and the photo of him and Nick regardlessly tossed away. Nick closed the door and sighed before he sat down on the edge of his bed.<p>

"What is it, babe?" he asked and immediately wondered why he used the word _babe_. He had never used it before, but he liked the sound of it. Even though he didn't want to, he smiled when he caressed Jeff's back. At first, Jeff just grunted something into the pillow and punched with his fist into it. "Can't understand you," Nick said calmly and let his hand rest on Jeff's neck.

Jeff leaned to the side but he didn't face Nick. "Talking to your mother about us is-" he repeated and was about to burry his face again, but instead he pointed at the picture. "And things like the photo are just-" He closed his eyes. "It means so much to me," he then said. "And seeing how interested in your – in _our_ – life she is makes me-" he stopped and simply shrugged before he went on, "happy, you know?" And he finally lifted his head and looked Nick into the eyes.

Nick saw that Jeff had tears in his eyes and he immediately had a lump in his throat. He coughed slightly to get rid of it. "But," he answered and started to caress Jeff's back again, "that's not a bad thing, is it?"

As an answer, Jeff sighed and let his head fall on the pillow. "No, not really. But every time I look at your mom, I wonder what my mom would say to me if she knew," he explained. "I've never had such an awesome relation to my mother as you have to your mother, but I want her to _know_ this about me. And dad too, though I'm kinda afraid of his reaction..."

_Better to hear it more than once than never, right?_ Nick heard the words of his father echoing in his head.

Apparently clueless and a bit overchallenged, he didn't know what to reply. He didn't want to promise Jeff _again and again_ that everything was going to be fine. Because he didn't _know_ if it would be, and he didn't want to disappoint Jeff. What he needed was someone who could help him with this, and Nick immediately knew who to turn to.

"Do you mind if I get us some water?" he asked and bended down to see if Jeff had something against it. But he didn't, so Nick nodded and left the room.

* * *

><p>"Mom, why do you <em>do<em> this to me?" Nick asked as he entered the living room. He didn't want to sound reproachful, but he couldn't help it. He felt a bit bad for blaming his mother.

"What are you talking about, honey?" Sophie asked, laying down on the couch.

"You talked to Jeff," Nick explained and placed his hands on his hips to show his anger. "He told me that you talked with him about us before dinner, and now he is-"

"Oh my god, he doesn't...hate me, does he? I knew it." Sophie covered her mouth. "Why can't I just stop talking for one second in presence of your boyfriend. I've ruined it. He hates me, right?" Her eyes started to get watery.

"Mom, you're overreacting again," Nick quickly said and shook his head. "He doesn't _hate_ you, quite the opposite. You know his parents, right? They are...not like you and dad, and Jeff knows that too. Ever since we were friends he told me that he would love to have a better relation to his mother, but whatever he tried to get closer to her, she just ignored him and left the room without saying a single word." Now his eyes were filling up with tears. "He cried, mom, every once in a week after he had called his parents. And it broke my heart to see him like that, it still does. Right now he's lying on my bed and has the same look in his eyes, disappointed and hurt, and I don't know what to do to make him feel better." His voice was shaking and he stopped talking, otherwise he would break down in tears.

"Aww, honey," his mother immediately cooed and stood up to hug him, gently rubbing his back. "I didn't know that it is _that_ bad." She heard Nick snort and knew that he was crying now. She felt a pain in her heart and pulled him closer. "I'm sorry, honey, and I can imagine how sad you are."

"No you don't," Nick corrected her with a whining voice. "You haven't seen him like this, and he isn't the most important person in your life. You don't hear him cry when he thinks that you're asleep, just so you don't see him this vulnerable and broken and become sad yourself. You have no idea how this kills me!" Tears were running down his face and he quickly wiped them away.

Without noticing it, William appeared at the door. He stopped when he saw his wife and his son hugging in front of the couch. He was obviously confused, but just seconds later he knew that he shouldn't interrupt them, also Sophie indicated him by waving with her hand that he should leave. So he slowly stepped backwards and closed the door behind himself. This was a mother-son-thing - and he knew it - because it has always been.

At that moment, just beeing in his mother's arm again was what Nick needed. He always tried to be there for Jeff, and he was proud of himself that he had handled everything well until then. But this time Nick had the feeling that he wouldn't endure it again. It broke his heart to leave Jeff on his own, but simply looking at him made him sad. He didn't want him to be sad, and he couldn't understand how Jeff had the talent to always see the bad side of everything.

"You know, honey, I think that you put yourself under too much pressure. Just because you are his boyfriend doesn't mean that you have to fight every single fight for him. And I am certain that he doesn't expect that from you, and he surely doesn't want you to do it!" his mother said as she made him sit down with her on the couch.

"But what does he expect me to do then?" Nick asked, and the sound of his voice made Sophie sigh.

"He wants you to fight the fights _with_ him, not _for_ him, you understand? I know that his life is a bit more problematic than yours, but you should just make him realize that you're always there for him." She looked at her son and raised her eyebrows. "And I'm deeply sorry for all the troubles I make, but Jeff now belongs to our family, at least _officially_ now, and he should also know that William and I are there for him if he ever needs any help."

Nick pressed his lips together as he suppressed his tears. A smile played around his lips as he couldn't help but hug her. "Seriously, mom, what would I do without you?" Sophie laughed and hugged him back.

"And now go back to him, I'm sure he's missing you already!" she said, and when Nick smiled at her before he left the room she was very proud – proud of her son who really cared about his boyfriend and proud of herself for having raised him this way. Happy she turned on the television and layed down on the couch.

Once Nick had closed the door, he spotted his dad in the kitchen. William walked over to him and had an understanding smile on his face. Before he entered the living room, he patted his son on the shoulder, obviously knowing that this gesture had always encouraged Nick. Thankful, Nick smiled at his father and then ran upstairs as fast as he could.

* * *

><p>"Where's the water?" Jeff mumbled as Nick walked into the room with empty hands. After he had closed the door, Nick made his way to the bed and sat down next to Jeff again. "If you really want to we can tell your parents, too, Jeff, but only if you feel comfortable with it. I don't want you to regret anything you ever did!" Nick said and tried to turn Jeff around by gently pushing his shoulder. "Jeff, please look at me," he moaned as he had no success. Jeff turned around and opened his eyes. It was a long time ago that Nick had seen him this vulnerable and sad. And it broke his heart to see him like this. "If there is anything I can do to make you feel better..." he whispered desperately and noticed that his heart had picked up speed.<p>

"You already do," Jeff whispered and tried to smile, but failed miserably since his heart was in a sad mood. "I am?" Nick asked surprised and raised his eyebrows. Jeff nodded. "You're here," he explained and lifted his arm to wrap it around Nick's neck to make him lay down beside him.

Nick couldn't help but smile and was glad that simply his presence was enough for Jeff. Without any complaint he layed his head next to Jeff's and let his hand wander towards Jeff's cheek. He then caressed it and felt his heart pick up a normal speed again. The overly broken look disappeared out of Jeff's eyes and made way for his usual look. "So...you want to marry me?" he asked bluntly, making Nick blush. _Way to change the subject!_, he thought.

"I was 8!" Nick defended himself and frowned. He knew that Jeff meant it as a joke, but he always had the thought in mind: _What if it would actually happen?_ Sure, he definitely wanted to get married someday, wanted to live a life with someone by his side that he loved and adored and couldn't live without. Thinking about if Jeff could be that person made him nervous. Although he was way too young to think about things like marriage, jokes about it made him think and actually drove him crazy.

"You know that was a joke, right?" Jeff asked, also frowning. Nick quickly nodded and then smiled. He turned around, reached out for the photo that was lying on the ground and picked it up. "You shouldn't treat this beautiful photo of us like that, babe," he said, smiling again as he said _babe_. That didn't remain unnoticed.

"You think I haven't noticed your new nickname for me," Jeff mumbled and laughed, taking the photo into his hands. "But I have, _Nicky darling honey bear_!" He was wiggling his eyebrows by saying this, making Nick burst out into laughter. It was always good to see Jeff smile after he had been sad.

"Stop it!" Nick said and shoved Jeff away. "Don't you dare start calling me all these names ever again! _Babe_ is such a beautiful and meaningful name!" he claimed and smiled.

Jeff just smirked and looked at the photo again. "You had such nice cheeks!" he suddenly squealed and reached out to pinch Nick's cheeks. "You still do, though," he added.

"Thank you," Nick said ironically, cursing his mother in his mind for showing Jeff all these photos.

"And I think it's kinda funny that I turned out to be taller than you now," Jeff added and laughed. And finally Nick laughed too, happy that Jeff was happy again. "Stop making fun of me, I'm not amused," he said and took the photo out of Jeff's hand, putting it on the nightstand.

"I will, but only if you promise to hang it up at Dalton and NOT burn it or something!" Jeff demanded and raised his finger, wiggling with it as a warning. "Okay," Nick sighed and nodded. "I promise I won't burn it if YOU don't tell ANYONE about all the other photos, not even Blaine!" Jeff smiled. "That will be quite difficult, but I'll manage it," he answered and yawned. "Can we go to bed now? I feel like I haven't slept for ages!"

"Sure," Nick answered, still a little bit sulky. Jeff noticed it and threw a pillow in his face. "HEY!" Nick screamed and threw it back at Jeff, but he was smiling. "I'm trying to be angry here, so stop smiling at me and stop giving me these _flirtatious_ looks!"

"You've never complained about them before," Jeff answered, wiggling his eyebrows. "My Nicky darling honey bear!" He knew that he risked to be attacked by Nick, but he didn't really care. All he wanted was some sleep.


	10. Flawless

I just wanted to thank you for all your kind and lovely reviews! :) You can't believe how happy I am when I see that someone reviewed this story, so a big THANK YOU for this! I hope you like this chapter :D

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 10: Being flawless<span>

The next morning they were woken up by a squeaky noise that was coming from the door. "Good morning," Sophie whispered as she entered the room, carrying a tablet with her hands.

Nick blinked as he heard the voice of his mother and sat up. The sun shone through the curtains at the window and filled the room with a warm, bright light. Sophie smiled at him and put the tablet on the edge of the bed.

"Is – is it morning yet?" Jeff mumbled, rubbing his eyes and blinking sleepily. He turned around and slightly shrieked when he caught sight of Sophie. As if he had done something illegal, he pulled the covers up in shock to hide his sighed and put his hand on his heart to slow it down. Nick was amused by his reaction and laughed. "Oh, come on Jeff, it's only my mom-"

"Yeah, sorry for interrupting your sleep, but it's already eleven and there are only three buses on Sundays, so I figured I'd wake you up that you don't miss the last one in one and a half hours," Sophie explained and then pointed at the tablet. "I've made you breakfast, you can eat here."

"Thanks, mom!" Nick answered and waited for her to leave the room. The way his mother smirked at him and Jeff made him uncomfortable. "Alright, I leave," she finally said and left the room.

"Your mom is brilliant!" Jeff said and sat up to lean against the bedhead. "I'm pretty sure that I'll miss all this." He grabbed one of the golden croissants, dipped it into red jam and bit off. "Mhm, raspberry!"

Nick smiled at him, stood up and opened the door of his wardrobe. Since he took most of his clothes to Dalton, there were only 3 old shirts in it. He took the newest one out – a navy blue one with two red stripes on it – and put it and his trousers on. Jeff had already finished his croissant and also stood up to put his clothes on.

One hour later, after they had packed their stuff and finsihed their breakfast, they made their way downstairs and went outside. Nick's parents were already standing in front of the garage and waited for the boys. "Finally! We should leave now, unless you want to miss the bus!" William said and raised one eyebrow demandingly.

Sophie hid something behind her back and was grinning broadly. "I just have one last thing for you guys," she said and then gave them a small present.

"Mom!" Nick moaned and shook his head. "Stop acting like you're the perfect mother with a goodbye prese-"

"Well, since _I am_ a perfect mother and this is not really a present, you should stop complaining and open it," Sophie said reproachful and cocked her head.

Jeff took the present and opened it, revealing a small picture frame. He smiled when he looked thankfully at Sophie. "Thank you, that's very nice of you."

"So you can hang up the beautiful photo of you two!" Sophie squealed and looked at her husband. She was rather proud of herself and giggled happily.

"Alright, we should go now. Dad?" Nick nodded towards his father who walked to the car. "Okay then, mom, it was very nice to see you again!"

"You too, honey!" Sophie stepped forward and hugged him. She tightened her grip and let her hand wander through Nick's hair. With an annoyed moan, Nick let go off her and smiled when he adjusted his hair. "Until then," he said and smiled at his mother, knowing that she will miss him very badly.

"You can visit us any time, you know," she said and looked at her son who opened the door of the car and sat down on the back seat. "I know," he said and smiled one last time at her before shutting the door.

"Thanks for having me," Jeff said and stood awkwardly in front of Sophie, not knowing if he should just hug her or shake her hand. But Sophie just laughed and wrapped her arms around him. "Aww, you're always welcome!" she said and rubbed his back. "Keep an eye on him," she whispered and pointed to the car.

"Of course," Jeff answered and stepped backwards, smiling friendly. Something in his heart ached when he looked at Sophie who was smiling at him warmingly. "Until next time!"

"Bye, honey!" Sophie raised her hand and waved. A few seconds later she watched the car pulling out of the driveway. And Nick could swear that he saw her wiping away a tear.

* * *

><p>After saying goodbye to William and after an hour-long bus ride back to Dalton, they were finally there and went directly to their room. The familiar noises and the certain scent in the air, it felt like they have never been away. "Alright, the first thing we do is hanging up the photo," Jeff ordered and pointed at a place on the wall between their beds. "Right there!"<p>

"We don't have to hang it up, you know," Nick said as he sat down on his bed. "It's not like my mom's going to stop by and check if we actually hang it up-"

"But I want to!" Jeff interrupted him and pouted. "And this photo is one of the sweetest things in the whole world, it would be a shame to put it away..."

Nick raised his hands in resignation. "Alright, I thought you just said you liked it because you didn't want to offend my mom, but that's...fine with me, go ahead." Seconds later, Jeff turned around to him and put the picture frame he was holding in the hand on the floor. "We have no hammer here..."

The way he looked at Nick was totally saying "Get one already!" But Nick just smiled at Jeff and wiggled with his eyebrows. "See, it's not meant to hang on the wall!" he laughed and earned an evil glare from Jeff. "Okay okay, I'll get one tomorrow, but just because you would probably, like... kill me or something if I wouldn't do it!"

Jeff snapped his fingers and formed them into a gun. His forefinger pointed at Nick as he made a clicking noise. "Exactly!"

"Alright, but you can bet that I won't –" Nick was interrupted by a knock at the door. "God, we've only arrived one minute ago! Who can't wait to talk to us?" He rolled his eyes as he opened the door.

"OH – MY – GOD!" Thad yelled as he ran into the room, not caring about the loud noises he made by slamming the door and stamping fiercely.

"Hello, Thad," Nick said overly calmly and nodded. Running into his and Jeff's room was probably one of Thad's new habits.

"You both-" Thad pointed at Nick and then at Jeff, "you won't believe what happened yesterday!" He had raised one eyebrow and looked unusually concerned. "I, well, I already told you about Sebastian, right?" Nick and Jeff nodded, so Thad went on. "Right, I did. And since you weren't here yesterday, I spent the night with Blaine watching movies."

Jeff cocked his head and had a meaningful smirk on his face. _Movies_. When Thad noticed this, he shook his head indignantly. "No, oh my god, Jeff, no, just...no!" He shook his head even stronger. "No, we _really_ watched movies and after that I went to my room. It was already two or three in the morning, so I was extra quiet not to wake someone up." He gestured with his hands. "And then I passed Sebastian's room and-" He made a meaningful pause and took a deep breath before he finally said it, "he SANG!"

"So?" Jeff asked slowly. He turned his head around to Nick to make sure that he wasn't the only one not being surprised about that. Nick frowned and shrugged, not really getting Thad's point either.

"Guys!" Thad said bewildered and raised his arms. "He sang? Sang a song at two in the morning?" Saying this, he slowly shook his head and had a look on his face which obviously meant something like "_Seriously guys, isn't it obvious?_" But after all, neither Nick nor Jeff understood him.

"Alright, let me tell you _exactly_ what happened..."

* * *

><p>Thad walked down the hallways to his own room and suddenly heard a singing voice. At first he didn't pay any attention to it, but then the voice got louder and made him stand still. <em>Who the hell is that?,<em> Thad asked himself and frowned, he had never heard someone sing at an early hour like this before. Curiosity had taken over his mind and made him listen more carefully to the voice to find out where it came from – and especially _whose_ it was.

As soon as his own footsteps didn't echo in the hallways anymore, he noticed that the words sounded kind of slured and whiningly, also horribly out of key. Being a Warbler, this made Thad frown and increased the need to find the one who sang – to make him _stop_ as soon as possible. Slowly, Thad wandered down the hallway and put his ear on every door to find the room the noise came from. It didn't take him long until he found it.

_Oh no_, Thad thought and shook his head when he realized whose room this was. _God no!_ With surprise and then wonder he noticed that his heart was beating very fast. Should he open the door or should he simply forget about all this and go to bed? He had already turned around when he changed his mind and knocked on the door. He didn't expect to hear a "Come in!", so he slowly opened it.

The voice stopped aprubtly and the sudden silence made Thad even more uncomfortable. He coughed slightly to get rid of the lump in his throat, and then he gathered all his courage to turn on the light.

"OFF!" Thad jumped at the loud, bloodcurdling scream and turned the light off again most instinctively. The seconds the light had filled the room weren't enough for Thad to overlook the room. But he saw that someone was lying on the bed, more or less. Struggling with himself, he stepped forward and tried to make his way into the dark room.

"Who's this?"

"Thad," Thad whispered because the darkness made everything so _sleepy_. However, the silence was soon interrupted by a noise, loud as a gun shot – at least Thad felt like it was one. Because of the loud "Ow!" which followed, Thad could say that someone fell out of the bed to the ground. He stepped forward and tried to turn the small lamp on that usually stands right next to the bed. As the _click_ was audible, a dim light shone at Thad's face and made him blink.

"Thad?" Sebastian mumbled as he was lying on the ground, unable to stand or sit up so he tried to pull himself up by grabbing the sheets on his bed. Thad turned around and looked down at the confused boy who fell back, covered under the sheets. "Can you help me?" Sebastian asked desperately with a whining voice. "Please?"

_Please?_ This one word resounded in Thad's head, full of sadness and despair. And this certain tone and the crack in his voice... _Oh no_, Thad thought again and suppressed the urge to hide his face in his hands. Now all he had to do was help Sebastian – but not only by helping him up.

When he stepped closer to Sebastian, his feet hit something that made a clanging noise. He looked down and saw two bottles – that were empty. And that was when Thad knew what was up with Sebastian.

"Are you drunk?" he asked when he grabbed Sebastian's arm and pulled him up. He didn't need an answer, the tangy scent in Sebastian's breath was enough to know that he was actually drunk. "Oh great," Thad sweared low-voiced and nearly pushed Sebastian back on his bed. "What?" Sebastian asked and rubbed the hurting spot on his head.

Thad stood still, he didn't want to sit down next to Sebastian. After all, he just knew him for a couple of days, and even in that short time he barely spoke with him. So, why did he even _was_ in this room now?

And then it happened, all of a sudden. Thad couldn't have prevented it from happening even if he would have known what was to come. Slowly, Sebastian put his head on Thad's shoulder and a loud sigh left his mouth. Then he sniffed and started to whimper. Seconds later Thad knew that he was crying. If Sebastian would have been his friend, he would have put his arms around him immediately and told him that everything was going to be fine, although he didn't know why he cried. But since they were far away from being friends, he just sat there awkwardly and couldn't even get himself to at least put a soothing hand on Sebastian's shoulder.

So he tried to help him with words. "Would you like to tell me what bothers you?" he kindly asked and received an even louder whimper from Sebastian which made him frown. "Is it something bad?" Sebastian nodded slightly at this and raised one hand to wipe the tears away. "Should I get Cole?" He shook his head, making Thad sigh because he just had no idea how to deal with this situation. _Why did I have to knock on his door?_, he asked himself for the second time, still not knowing an answer.

"I –" Sebastian sobbed and took a deep breath. "I'm just feeling so awful lately."

"It's probably just your transfer, but don't worry, you'll get used to us," Thad said and nodded, not only trying to convince Sebastian but also himself.

"No, my transfer is totally fine," Sebastian explained and shook his head after he had lifted his head from Thad's shoulder. He didn't see that Thad had blushed because it was too dark to recognize the red color.

"Well, what is it then?"

"My poor heart," Sebastian replied while tapping against his chest with his fist.

"Are you...ill or something?" Thad hoped that Sebastian was fine and healthy. He immediately felt his own heart ache when he thought about a serious illness Sebastian could have without having told him about it.

"Of course not, I'm a healthy man!" Saying this, Sebastian coughed and had to bend over. Already fearing the worst, Thad stood up and waited. But Sebastian just kept on coughing for a few seconds. "Could you please –" He pointed at the water bottle which was standing on the table right next to Thad. Thad gave him the bottle and watched him drinking the whole water.

"So, what's it all about then?"

"The worst feeling ever," Sebastian said and frowned. He threw the empty bottle away and yawned. But Thad just kept looking at him questioningly and raised his eyebrows. "Love?" Sebastian said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Someone broke your heart or what are you trying to say?" Thad gestured wildly with his hands.

"That sums it up pretty well actually!" Sebastian nodded. "I – why am I telling you this?" He raised his head to look at Thad but he could hardly manage it.

"Cause you're drunk and I'm the _lucky_ person to be here?" Thad suggested and shrugged. To be honest, that was the question he tried to find an answer to for the last minutes. But after all he had this strange feeling in his chest, he wanted to really _know_ Sebastian.

"Yea, well, doesn't matter anyway. I'm very tired, I should go to sleep probably..." Saying this, Sebastian laid down entirely and pulled the covers up.

"So, you don't want to talk about it?" Thad asked, slightly surprised about Sebastian's unusually quick denial. Even though they weren't friends, he felt that Sebastian needed to talk to somebody about his life. And he wouldn't mind if _he_ would be that person - for whatever reason.

"No, I'm too tired to talk now," Sebastian answered and shook his head. He lowered himself down on his bed and stretched his arms out. When he did so, his shirt rode up and revealed skin on his side. Thad blushed immediately and looked away. Although Sebastian wouldn't notice it because of his state, Thad coughed slightly and tried to look anywhere but Sebastian.

"Well, if you ever have the need to talk to someone, you can always come to me," he said slowly even though he didn't plan to say it. After all, he felt that Sebastian was someone he could get friends with, but he didn't want to be too intrusive.

"Thank you," Sebastian said and yawned again. He rubbed his eyes until he saw stars. "Alright, you should probably leave now unless you want to sleep here too."

"N-no no, I'm already leaving!" Again, Thad blushed without a real reason. He looked at Sebastian who was already lying on his bed with his eyes shut. Slowly he made his way to the door and thought about what he could say to at least give Sebastian the chance to have a good night. _What could cheer him up?,_ Thad asked himself as he opened the door. Just then he had an idea.

"You should totally come to our next Warbler practice. I think that you have a great singing voice - when you're not drunk," he added and waited for an answer.

"Yeah, I'll think about it. But thanks anyway, Thad," Sebastian mumbled into the pillow so that Thad could hardly understand him. "I really appreciate it that you...that you..." From the snoring noise Thad could tell that he had drifted off to sleep. That was quite sad, because Thad would've loved to know what Sebastian wanted to say. But he had to wait until he could ask him when he would see him the next time. Slowly he closed the door behind himself and went to his own room, not minding the happy smile on his face and his racing heart.

* * *

><p>"Thad, you are flawless!" Jeff laughed after Thad had told them everything about last night, leaving out the part where he had blushed for a good reason. "Honestly, you are too good for this world!"<p>

"Why are you saying that?" Thad wondered and frowned. He expected the two boys to laugh at his story, but they didn't and that made him suspicious.

"You are unique in probably every way," Jeff explained and tried to find the right words. He laughed when he thought about what he just said and shrugged. "I mean, you're very friendly, and I'm sure that no one would have entered Sebastian's room, but you, being the amazing person you are, couldn't help to look what was wrong."

Thad was taken aback by Jeff's words. He didn't know how to handle them and especially what to reply. Sometimes Jeff was too kind, so Thad just smiled at him thankfully and blushed a bit.

"Could you two please stop flirting?" Nick asked reproachfully and sighed. "Especially _you_, babe?"

"I was just being honest! Don't blame me!" Jeff said self-defendingly and raised his hands as an apology.

"When you are talking about flawless people, _my_ name should be in the same sentence!" Nick's face turned into a light shade of red when he looked at the ground. He actually didn't bother Jeff to tell kind things, but he got jealous very fast since Cole was kind of hitting on his boyfriend. "Sorry, it's...um, my head aches and that's driving me mad!"

"Don't worry, I wanted to go anyway!" Thad said and stood up, feeling a bit sorry for the sudden tension that was in the room. "Talk to you later," he mumbled and then left the room as quickly as he entered it.

Jeff picked the photo up from the ground and looked at it. Then he put it on his night stand. "What was that all about?" he asked as Nick didn't say a word, much to Jeff's surprise. The tone in his voice had sounded like he was kind of angry. But why?

"Sorry, I don't really know why...why..." Nick stammered and nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"I think that Thad needs _support_ right now, and I just wanted to make him see that he is awesome and that he deserves..._someone_ in his life, just like Blaine does. Although I've always thought that Thad didn't..." Jeff paused, and his eyes were full of concern but with a hint of joy. "You have to admit that it's very obvious by now, and I think that he himself doesn't really know what to do and think, but I'm pretty sure that he has some kind of _feelings_ for Sebastian, otherwise he wouldn't have done what he did last night-"

"Wait a second, so you're now sure that Thad is gay or what?" Nick asked with a frown. Jeff just nodded as a response and shrugged. "I think so, yes. And come on, you can't tell me that you didn't see the tiny smile that was on his lips when he told us what happened!"

"No, I mean yes, I _did_ see it, but do you really think he's actually gay?"

"Just remember the look on his face when he had to kiss Jim the other day, it all makes sense now!" Jeff explained and had his eyes wide open. "But can you imagine him and Sebastian being together? It seems so weird..."

"We would have far less problems if he and Blaine-"

"No, that wouldn't work at all, and if it does, it would've happened by now, so a big no to that! Since we don't know Sebastian, we have to _get_ to know him in the next few days and probably weeks, and we should help Thad. I don't know if we should confront him with that or if we should let him talk to us when he wants to, but we should be there for him! And when he's ready to talk to us, we'll be there for him, all the time! We need to show him that he's being loved and that he is such a good and joyful boy and that he'll be fine. Because we're there for him."

"Do you know that you are simply adorable when you care so much about the persons around you?" Nick smiled and made Jeff blush with his words. Obviously, the feeling of jealousy disappeared and made room for pure love. Jeff turned his head around and then went over to Nick. "And do _you_ know that you are one hell of a mood changer?" Instead of saying yes, Nick winked at him and smirked. "Of course I know that," he replied and wiggled with his eyebrows.

"But, just one last time," Jeff said again and felt sorry when he heard Nick sigh. "Honestly, I can relate to Thad so much, you have no idea. Every time I look at him, I can see me." Nick had cocked his head and was curious now. He listened carefully as Jeff went on. "When I realized that I'm in love with you, I used to talk to Blaine- Yeah, I know, but he is such a good listener and always has some advice for you. And I really needed him, so we have to be th-"

"There for Thad, I got it now," Nick continued his sentence and nodded. He smiled and patted Jeff's shoulder lovingly as he sat down beside him. "I have to revoke what I just said about flawless and nothing but my own name being in one sentence. You are allowed to use one, only _one_ other name."

"Whose?"

"Yours," Nick answered and grinned broadly, knowing that Jeff always blushed at cheesy things like this. But because he found that extremely adorable, he couldn't resist it. Soon, Jeff laughed and his cheeks turned into a light red, his eyes squinted half shut. Nick couldn't help but laugh as well and put Jeff's hand into his own.

"Oh Nicky, we are a flawless couple," Jeff stated and bent over to kiss Nick, who let out a silent moan as soon as their lips touched. In moments like this neither of them cared about what was going on around them, they almost seemed to forget about everything else. Jeff raised one hand to put it behind Nick's head and pulled him closer right away. He could feel Nick smile against his lips.

"Guys? Can I just– Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know!" Blaine had walked into their room and stopped immediately when he saw the two boys kissing. "I – I'll just come back later then!" he said loudly and looked at the ground, embarassed about interrupting them.

"What is it, Blaine?" Nick asked after letting go of Jeff. Now that Blaine had interrupted them, he could just as well say what he wanted.

"It's not even important, it's...just continue where you left off!" Blaine answered and shook his head while making declining gestures with his hands.

"Just tell us," Jeff insisted and Blaine stopped at the door. He turned around and sighed. "Well, it's about Cole, but I'll come back later since you two are kinda busy, so...yeah." And with these words he left the room.

Nick bit his lip and turned around to look at his boyfriend, wrinkling his forehead. "Do you ever feel like everyone's just telling us stuff about what is going on in their life, but they don't seem to be interested in our lives?" he asked and cocked his head.

"I'm starting to," Jeff replied and let his head fall against Nick's shoulder. "Babe, please, can't we just leave Dalton and live with your family instead?"

"Of course not, although I'd love to!" Nick replied and raised his forefinger warningly. "And don't steal my name for you!"

"Okay, then I'll just stick to my _Nicky darling honey bear_..."

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Nick shouted immediately and opened his eyes furiously.

"But I'm saying that with _so much love_!" Jeff claimed and raised his hands. But Nick didn't react, so Jeff pouted and folded his arms to show his protest. When Nick finally saw it, he laughed and shook his head. "You won't be happy until I allow you to use that name, won't you?"

"Damn straight!" Jeff folded his arms again and raised his head to look into another direction than Nick's. With pretended offense on his face, he refused to look at his boyfriend.

"Jeff, you are free to call me what you like. It's not like I have made rules you have to comply with - although I sometimes feel like it, but that's just what happens when you're the boyfriend of someone," Nick said and clapped his hands.

"Alright, Prince Charming!" Jeff still refused to look at him, but a smirk played around his lips.

Nick put on a serious face and let out a slight growl when he looked at Jeff who was just raising his hands and laughing. "What?"


End file.
